As From Discretion Comes Isolation
by Lauraa.Ann
Summary: The year away from the BAU has caused distance between Emily and the team, but when they come to visit her in London they soon realise the burden she has been carrying alone. When tragedy strikes and the team find themselves caught up in a horrendous homicide case the partnership that they would have to form with pathologist Professor Leo Dalton and his team would be crucial.
1. Chapter 1

**As From Discretion Comes Isolation**  
**Chapter One**

_The story is set between Series 8 of Criminal Minds and Series 16 of Silent Witness_

* * *

10.57am. Emily looked at her watch for the third time in the last half an hour; their flight was twenty-two minutes late. She sighed and leant against the barrier at the Arrivals gate at London Gatwick Airport. It was not somewhere she was familiar with as she hadn't had many visitors since moving halfway around the world but she had made a special journey today. For the past hour she had been stood waiting only to be pushed by impatient men in black suits holding placards with scrawly handwriting which should say people's surnames.

She smiled as she thought of how her team wouldn't have had a very enjoyable experience either, for those who are used to the luxuries of flying on the private jet every week, a seven hour commercial flight with a delay would have been hell in comparison.

Although it had been a year since she had left her beloved BAU family she still called them _her_ team, there wasn't a day that would go by that she didn't think of them. Her daily emails from Garcia always made her smile, no matter how busy she was she would always take five minutes to read the essay that her eccentric friend would send to her. The last time she had seen any of the team was when Garcia and Morgan had been to visit her the previous summer, a lot had changed since then, back before it all began. She had tried so hard to persuade Hotch to postpone their trip but he said that they had booked that week off and they couldn't get any personal time off for months. They were lucky as it was. There was no way she could tell him, or any of them. She would just have to get through the week and hope it didn't progress any further.

Emily looked up and listened as the announcement was finally being made, the 10.35 flight from Washington Dulles International Airport had just arrived. There was an excited movement amongst the crowd waiting in front of the electric doors in anticipation of their loved ones coming through at any moment. It reminded her of the opening scene from Love Actually, a film she'd had the pleasure of watching numerous times since moving to the country.

After another five minutes, the first trickle of passengers began marching through. 'These won't be the loved ones' she thought, the voice of her inner profiler speaking. She knew these were the pretentious businessmen whose names were scrawled on the placards; the men who would have bounded through the luggage collection with no hassle, as they were only carrying their smart-looking small suitcases or a simple briefcase with them. Surely enough, the flurry of men in an array of bland-coloured suits walked briskly past everyone and straight to their chauffeur and within a couple of minutes most of the rude men with their placards had left, leaving Emily and the rest of the people awaiting personal arrivals.

Then it happened. The moment when Bill Nighy says love really is all around, when a little girl, no older than five ran through the doors and straight into her Dad's arms without any hesitation; when a woman rushed up to her husband and kissed him passionately without a care for her surroundings and when a team of six FBI agents saw the piece of their family that they had been missing for the last year.

It was the bundle of colour that was Garcia which tottered towards her first and flung her arms around her friend, holding her tightly, "Emily! I've missed you so much!" she cried finally releasing her. The rest of the team caught up as Morgan and Hotch pushed two trolleys full of luggage. On top of the various bags sat two little boys.

"Hey you guys! What a surprise, I didn't know you were coming!" Emily cried giving each of them a hug.

J.J. beamed after greeting her friend "Will would've come too but he couldn't get the time off work and the little man was desperate to go on holiday so Hotch said Jack could come too to keep each other company."

After greeting each of her friends similarly in turn, Emily led them to the two black shining hire cars which she had organised for them to use at their leisure.

Morgan raised his eyebrows at their ride, "they're not the SUV's but after the journey we've just had, anything will do!" Though his opinion soon changed as he gave a low whistle sliding into the driver's seat of one of the cars, he could tell it was a brand new model with its soft leather seats and it had all the gadgets any vehicle-loving man needed.

After driving an hour into the capital city they had reached their destination. The typical British weather hadn't failed them as the rain poured from the miserable, grey clouds. As they unloaded their bags and walked into the clean lobby of the hotel Emily realised how tired her friends looked.

"I can come back after you have all rested, I know how tiring that flight can be..." she began.

J.J. shook her head, "we came here to see you, and London, but mainly you! We are here for seven days, there'll be plenty of time to sleep when we've caught up"

"We had an overnight flight with the time difference, we're all used to plane seats so we all slept the majority of the way" Rossi added in a matter-of-fact tone.

Garcia stifled a yawn, "speak for yourself, not all of us jet around the country every week, some of us aren't great flyers and cannot get to sleep on lumpy airplane seats so instead watch the Wizard of Oz on the inflight entertainment and tell stories to four year old Godsons who also can't sleep."

Morgan put his arm around her, "go up to the room and get some sleep Baby Girl."

She shook her head firmly, "no, no I'm here to see Emily, I-."

"No arguments, you'll see Emily all week and we saw all the sights last time anyway so come on let's get you up to our room," Morgan said giving her a 'don't argue with me Baby' look.

She frowned slightly, "our room? Sugar I'm sure there's plenty of rooms in this huge hotel, we didn't need to share."

"Ah but I sleep all the better knowing my girl is near me," he smiled wickedly.

As the others watched them argue, Henry pulled on his mother's hand, "Mommy I'm tired."

"Oh you are?" J.J. asked pulling him into her arms, "are you too sleepy to go see London?" he nodded his head so his blond hair shook and she noticed his eyes already beginning to droop.

Garcia took him out of her friend's arms, "come on little man, we'll have nap time in Auntie Penelope's room" she smiled as she saw he had already placed his head on her shoulder and began snoring lightly, "I'm sorry Emily, we'll meet you later for dinner, text me the details, I love you" Penelope rambled as she carried the little boy towards the lifts with Morgan carrying the luggage behind.

Hotch nodded "we'll all go and take our luggage up to our rooms and then we'll meet back down here in about ten minutes so Emily can give us the tour."

The team followed the orders of their Unit Chief, even when they were on a break it was difficult not to see him as their boss.

* * *

In the busy family restaurant the nine friends sat around chatting happily about their day and catching up on their lives over the past year.

"I can't believe I slept for eight hours! As soon as I hit the pillow I was just out," Penelope cried mortified that she'd missed almost the entire day.

Morgan laughed from beside her, "you would've slept through dinner as well if I hadn't woken you up!" After they had put little sleeping Henry into one of the twin beds in their room, Garcia had fallen asleep lying on Morgan's chest before he too was overwhelmed with fatigue. When Henry awoke in the mid-afternoon, Morgan took him down to the indoor swimming pool to play while he left his Baby Girl still sleeping soundly in their room.

"So buddy what was your favourite part of today?" Hotch asked his son who sat beside him.

Jack furrowed his brow in thought, "I liked seeing the Queen's palace and Big Ben and the London Eye was good."

Hotch smiled at him, "yeah they were pretty good, I was impressed the sights lived up to the expectation despite the weather."

Reid nodded as the waiter placed the plate with his ordered meal in front of him, "I agree, I found London's history fascinating. I had read seven books on the city itself also several on the royal family and then five on the country as a whole as background research at home. I particularly look forward to visiting the British Museum and the Natural History Museum but most of all the Science Museum, did you know they are holding a special Doctor Who exhibition for the 50th Anniversary? Garcia we have to go!"

"Ooh yes!" she squealed excitedly, "and Kevin can't ruin this one!"

"I'm glad you all had a good day and I'm sorry we didn't get to see everything but we'll go out again tomorrow," Emily said. She paused and took a deep breath, unaware of how they were going to react to her news but she knew she had kept it from them for long enough. "I've got something I need to tell you, I'm really sorry I haven't told you before but-" she was interrupted by the clear ringing of her phone in her pocket. She looked at it and went slightly pale, "I'm sorry I've got to take this..."

The team waited patiently as their friend walked outside to take her phone call, after five minutes she returned, she looked horror-struck.

"Emily is everything ok?" J.J. asked.

She picked up her bag, "I'm sorry, I've got to go, work I-, I'll see you tomorrow, I'm sorry" she babbled quickly before rushing out of the restaurant.

The team watched as she left the building, "what d'you reckon that was all about?" Morgan asked.

"It's not our place to get involved anymore, she'll tell us when she's ready, until then we're still here on vacation" Hotch said. Something about his words made them all remember that Emily was no longer part of their team at home in Quantico but a friend they were merely visiting.

The team remained fairly quiet for the rest of their meal, despite their best efforts to continue to enjoy themselves, something was clearly wrong with their friend and they couldn't get it out of their minds.


	2. Chapter 2

**As From Discretion Comes Isolation  
Chapter 2**

A/N - Thank you already for the reviews and the response of this story, I know that crossovers aren't always as popular and especially as Silent Witness isn't a very well known show outside the UK so support is much appreciated. However, for any solely Criminal Minds fans the story is mainly about Emily and her secrets and the first few chapters will alternate between the two shows so you can just read and follow the Criminal Minds side of the story until the time comes for the two teams to meet. It's not explained so for anyone who doesn't know Silent Witness is basically about a team of pathologists (medical examiners) and a forensic scientist in London who assist in solving murder cases.

* * *

It was the vibrating of her phone against her wooden bedside table that woke Nikki Alexander at 4.00am. Usually she would be reluctant to answer it, knowing it would most likely be a work call asking her to attend a crime scene, but this was a call she had been expecting. Her heart began to beat faster in anticipation as she sat up and blindly felt for her phone before switching on her lamp and pressing answer.

"Dr Alexander" she answered more calmly than she felt, blinking rapidly as her eyes adjusted to the light.

"Hey Nikki!"

Her heart deflated, as the voice her Irish colleague rang clearly in her ears. As much as she had grown to love him during the months since forensics and pathology had joined forces it was not who she was hoping to hear from in the early hours of the morning.

She sighed heavily and slumped backwards into her bed, "Jack, is there any particular reason you are calling me at four in the morning?"

There was movement at his end of the phone, "yeah sorry I got those bloods back and thought you'd like to know that-"

"-You may be a crazed insomniac but some of us get little enough sleep as it is and I would like to salvage what I have left of it, goodnight" she interjected as she closed her eyes briefly and brought her hand to her forehead in despair, she did not take kindly to being woken up to hear about a ninety two year old woman's blood results.

"But Nikki-"

"Goodnight Jack" and with that she cut him off.

Turning the lights back out she felt the darkness consume her once more, and despite having to get up for work in two hours she found herself unable to fall asleep. For the past week she had been expecting a call from her best friend and ex-colleague who had left to take a job in New York and due to the time difference, she had been waiting for that call at any time. She knew it was ridiculous to believe Harry was still yearning for his life back in London. No matter how much he had moaned about the trivial problems he'd had adjusting to his new life in the 'Big Apple', the now infrequent and shorter phone calls and emails were the evidence she needed to know he had moved on; she just wished she could do the same.

* * *

The corridor was cold as Nikki arrived into the Lyell Centre several hours later, she reluctantly shrugged off her coat before sitting down at her desk. Within minutes of her entering the building Leo had brewed her a coffee and had brought it to her. Despite being her boss he was her long term friend more than anything. With the lack of a father figure Leo had always been the man she respected and looked up to the most.

She brought the mug to her lips and smiled gratefully up at him as she felt the hot liquid course through her body, immediately beginning to warm her, "thank you, is Jack in yet?"

"I think so but I haven't seen him, why?" he replied, sitting opposite and sipping his own cup of tea.

She sighed and ran her hand through her hair, "he rang me at four o'clock this morning ranting about those bloods for Cassandra Franklin."

Leo frowned and shook his head in confusion, "he rang you? He mentioned them briefly last night as I was leaving but I didn't think he'd stay here and wait for the results."

"I'll go and see him in a minute," she said leaning back slightly in her office chair.

There was a silence whilst Leo continued to study his friend's behaviour, "still no word from Harry?" he was well aware of how much Nikki had been hurting since Harry's departure. He had always expected them to admit their love for each other but they were both too stubborn and respectful to do anything, and now it was too late.

She looked up attentively before concentrating on her cup once more to avoid eye contact "no... not yet" she said quieter than usual, trying not to show her disappointment.

He put a hand on her shoulder, "you know how it is with a new job, even worse in a new city, let alone a new country! I'm sure he'll get in touch as soon as he's got a minute"

Nikki stood up hastily trying to avoid the situation, "thank you Leo" she smiled quickly placing her empty cup on the desk and hurrying out of the room.

Jack had his back to the door looking through a microscope as Nikki entered the lab and he was unaware of her presence as she leant against the doorway with her arms folded.

"Those bloods better be really important."

He raised his head at the sound of her voice. His body ached all over from the night before and he wasn't looking for a pounding head to match but he knew he had to face the music so he turned slowly to face her.

She walked towards him shaking her head slightly, "why do I suddenly get the feeling that this has nothing to do with bloods?" she said pointing to his face which was covered in cuts and the skin around his eye was various shades of blue and purple.

"Ok, I'm sorry. I went fighting again last night, I told you it's something I need to do sometimes to let everything go" he paused and smiled, "you should see the other guy!"

Nikki sighed, "I'd rather not. So you lost, felt sorry for yourself, rang me when you got home and made up some ridiculous story about Cassandra Franklin's blood results."

"Ah it wasn't exactly ridiculous, I did get the results back."

"And?" she asked raising her eyebrows.

He looked at her sheepishly, "and she died of natural causes"

She closed her eyes in disbelief, "which is just what we concluded in the postmortem yesterday" she turned to leave the room before looking back, "what were you going to say if I had said yes I wanted to know about the blood results?"

He laughed and gave a slight shrug, "I didn't think that far!"

Despite the fact that she was annoyed with him, Nikki laughed too, it wasn't something she had cause to do often so she wouldn't pass up the opportunity if it arose. Just as she reached the door she walked into Leo who looked distressed with his phone in his hand.

"Leo what's the matter?" Nikki asked concernedly.

"I've just heard from DCI Harrison, there's been another one" he answered quietly, "they're going to need you both at the scene, it's a member of London Interpol."


	3. Chapter 3

**As From Discretion Comes Isolation  
Chapter 3**

A/N - Thanks again for following the story, sorry the first few chapters aren't that eventful but it's layering the background and hinting at what is ahead... but enjoy!

* * *

It was 11am when J.J. awoke the next morning, she hadn't slept very well and her body clock was yet to adjust to the time difference as it would be 6am D.C. time. When she looked over at the other side of the bed, Henry was curled up tightly, clutching the duvet with his little hand and snoring lightly. Not wanting to wake him yet, she picked up her phone and dialled Emily's number. After her sudden departure the previous evening, she had been terribly worried about her friend. Twice she called but both times it went straight to voicemail, she looked out of her hotel window and watched the busy life of London passing by. Deciding she would give her son another fifteen minutes of sleep she sat on the edge of the large king size bed and turned the TV on. After lowering the volume she tediously flicked through the channels until a story being reported on the BBC News caught her eye. The headline said 'Second London Interpol Murder', listening closely she found out that last night a second Interpol agent had been found murdered but the details could not be released to the public. J.J. knew she had to speak to the rest of the team even if she could not reach Emily herself. Quickly she got dressed before waking her sleepy little boy and helped him into his clothes.

As soon as the pair exited the elevator J.J. caught Hotch's eye who was already sitting in the lobby with Jack, Rossi and Reid.

"I just saw the news, is it true?" she asked sitting opposite her teammates.

Hotch nodded solemnly in response.

"And Emily? Has anyone been able to contact her? I tried her phone twice this morning but I had no luck"

Reid shook his head, "we couldn't reach her either, she said she would see us today though"

"Where's Morgan and Garcia?"

Rossi folded the newspaper he was reading over, "sleeping in most probably, some of us have easily adjustable body clocks, which can be a curse when you only get four hours sleep!"

J.J. quietly told her son to go and play with Jack before lowering her voice, "do you think Emily is involved in something? Do you think she's in danger?"

Reid shook his head, "no!" he said firmly, "she wouldn't keep that from us, not again. If she was in trouble she'd tell us"

Rossi simply looked at the other two agents, as much as they hoped he was right, they knew Emily. If she was in trouble and telling her family would involve them then she would keep them as far away from the situation as she could, just as she had with Doyle.

The sound of laughter soon rang through the lobby as Morgan exited the elevator with his arm firmly around Penelope, they were laughing at nothing in particular but soon stopped as soon as they saw the grave looks on their friends' faces.

"What's wrong?" Garcia asked immediately looking between them.

Rossi handed them his paper, Morgan unfolded it to reveal a similar headline to the one which occupied the news channel. His frown deepened as he began to read the article while Garcia brought her hand to her mouth in shock.

After reading he placed the paper down on the coffee table and they both sat on one of the small black leather couches, "at least we got one day of vacation" he snorted.

Hotch shook his head, "we still are on vacation, there's nothing we can do about this, we've just got to wait until Emily arrives and see what she tells us"

Silence fell amongst the group as they thought about their friend. Their now saddened and worried attitudes juxtaposed that of the two little boys who were happily playing with the toy soldiers Jack had gotten in the city the previous day.

At the sound of movement behind them they all turned suddenly to face the revolving doors that led onto the bustling street to see a very tired and panicked Emily hurrying through the lobby towards them. She took the seat beside J.J. as she caught her breath, "are you alright?" her friend asked placing her hand onto hers.

She nodded slowly, "I'm sure you've seen the news, I found out last night that the second member of my team had been killed in two weeks, that's why I had to leave early last night. I wish I could tell you more but I can't, I have to spend today working I'm so sorry but we'll definitely have dinner tonight, 7 o'clock, my treat. There's a nice place down the road, I'll text you the details, I am sorry" she said apologetically looking at each of her friends. None of them could imagine the burden she was carrying and what she had sacrificed but she didn't want them to. She had been hoping that she could avoid the situation while her friends were here, maybe even act normal, but when did she last act normal? Normality wasn't an option at the moment but she had to act, she couldn't involve them, not again.

Penelope looked up at her as she stood, "Em you aren't alright, you need to be here, with your family" she said quietly her eyes blinking behind her green sparkly glasses.

Emily gave her a small, unconvincing smile, "I'll see you later, you've got the hire cars I'm sure you'll be able to amuse yourselves" she quickly turned on her heel and exited the lobby.

Reid continued to look at the door after she had left, "I wish there was something we could do for her" he said sadly.

Morgan nodded, "I know kid, I know. So what're we going to do today?"

Henry and Jack sneakily took the opportunity to take a leaflet for Legoland to their parents. J.J. pulled her son into her lap and laughed, "you are cheeky aren't you? Is that what you want to do?" he nodded furiously continuing to look at the photos of the smiling children on the front of the colourful paper used as a form of rhetoric.

Hotch took his son's leaflet and looked at it carefully, "you want to go too buddy?"

"Yes please Dad" he smiled sweetly up at him.

"Is everyone else up for a day trip to Legoland?" their Unit Chief asked with a smile.

All apart from Reid nodded, "but the museums, the convention-"

"-which will still be there tomorrow and the day after and everyday until we leave" Garcia interjected, "Boy Genius I promise you we will go, ok?"

"I think a day at a silly kids theme park is exactly what we need, no work, no worrying and certainly no unsubs!" J.J. added.

Reid shrugged and nodded slowly, he had only ever been to a theme park once where he had thrown up violently after the hungry caterpillar roller coaster when he was thirteen but it had been a rare time that his mother had taken him out, it was one of her good days.

Rossi clapped his hands together, "great! Then let's go!"


	4. Chapter 4

**As From Discretion Comes Isolation**  
**Chapter 4**

A/N - Thank you again for your support!

* * *

After completing the postmortem on Interpol member Lewis Richards aged 37, Leo peeled off his scrubs in the changing rooms before walking back to his office. From her desk Nikki peered through the glass to see him speaking with DCI Harrison, the policeman who had been heading the investigation since it all began. She watched as the two men shook hands before he left the office briskly, giving Jack and herself a nod as he passed them. Within seconds of the detective leaving, Nikki appeared in the doorway.

"What did you learn from the postmortem?" she asked walking further into the room.

"Simple gunshot to the back of the head, bruising on the face, neck and torso indicates the same level of torture inflicted as the others, and the cuts..." he trailed off.

"It's one of theirs then?"

He nodded sadly, "definitely, and they're getting bolder"

"Do the bullets match those found in the other victims?"

Leo shrugged, "Harrison has sent it off to ballistics just to be sure, waste of money in my opinion, every other part of his MO is consistent, I don't see why he has to confirm the bullet to ensure it's the same killer"

She ran her fingers through her hair, they had been working this case on and off for the past year and it was getting more difficult with each murder victim, "what did Harrison have to say?"

Leo snorted slightly, "oh the usual, 'this brings us one step closer', 'we are doing everything we can to bring them to justice', well why have you got no new leads after almost a year then?"

"He knows he can take a backseat because Interpol are officially leading the investigation now" she answered with the same skeptical tone as her friend, "I still can't believe that even though this is the second murder of an Interpol member and they didn't call us in immediately, his body was found last night!"

Leo nodded, "their excuse is all the legalities of the case, that doesn't exactly make up for the fact that key evidence is tampered with as people contaminate the crime scene"

Nikki sighed and nodded in agreement before returning to her desk to bury herself in her work further. Time had completely gone when she noticed Jack sat at his desk opposite.

"So listen, I was thinking I could take you out tonight, to make up for being an ass towards you this morning" he said leaning towards her slightly.

Nikki looked at him from behind her computer monitor, "Mr Hodgson, are you asking me out on a date?" she asked raising her eyebrows, trying to stifle a smile.

He looked slightly taken back, "no, I thought we could go for a pizza or something so you can chill, this case has got us all working around the clock"

She clicked save before shutting down the computer, "pizza? And who said romance was dead?" she laughed, "no seriously, that sounds great"

* * *

The laid-back atmosphere in the side street Italian restaurant that the two colleagues decided on was exactly where they needed to go, a direct contrast to their workplace. It was almost an hour until their food arrived and by this time they had consumed several drinks each and were beginning to relax.

"Do you know what I've come to realise recently Jack?" Nikki said taking a further sip of the cocktail she had come to enjoy.

He took a bite out of his meat-covered pizza, "what?" he asked.

"I've realised that female police officers really hate me" Jack gave a short laugh in response, "I'm being serious, they don't listen to any of the scientific evidence I tell them and they do their own thing instead"

"They probably feel threatened by you because you are clearly intellectually superior to them" he grinned.

She shook her head slowly, "no they just don't like me. They all love you, everyone loves you..." she paused, "they all used to love Harry too" she said wistfully, mentally leaving the conversation and thinking of all the times her heart hurt when a policewoman would throw themselves at him. After returning her head back to the present she looked at Jack, "am I really that easy to dislike?"

"Nikki you're great. You're smart and pretty, which is a rare combination among the female specimens as I've found! Don't let them stuck-up bitches get you down"

She smiled at him, "you are a sweet man Jack, I'm glad you came to work with us"

He returned her smile, "me too"

* * *

It was past midnight by the time Jack was walking Nikki to her front door.

"I'm afraid you are a bad influence on me Mr Hodgson, I never usually get drink...drunk, oh take me home, I can't even speak!"

"Nikki, we are home" he said pointing to her front door as he waited patiently for her to open it.

"Sorry!" she cried pulling her keys out of her bag, "well thank you for a lovely night out, I'll see you in the morning"

He looked at her, "are you sure you don't want me to come in? Make sure you're alright"

"I am perfectly capable of getting into my own home Jack but thank you"

"Goodnight Nikki" he smiled and leant over and kissed her on the cheek.

She gently touched her fingers over her face after she was safely inside her home and smiled.

As she removed her outer layers of clothing she noticed a small, bright red light flashing in the darkened room. After switching the nearest lamp on she realised it was coming from her answering machine. Without any thought she pressed the Play button to hear the message whilst she went into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea.

_'Hi Nikki it's me Harry, I really wanted to catch you and have a proper talk before I left but obviously we've missed each other again, we really need to schedule these phone calls properly. Anyway, it was just a call to see if you were ok, it's great hearing your voice even if it was just your answering message. I've been asked if I can help with a case in Florida for the next few weeks so I'm heading south... well now actually so I will try and ring you while I'm there but if that's not possible, I'll speak to you when I'm back in New York. I really don't want to lose contact, you're my best friend Nikki and don't ever forget it. Right I've really got to go now my flight's about to board, ok bye!'_

Nikki stood staring at the machine, the cup in her hand shaking. The one night she goes out with Jack, Harry calls her, he calls her before he is going away and she's not there to answer his call. She slammed the mug onto the counter in anger before pressing the Play button again and sitting on the stairs listening to his voice. Tears of sadness and frustration fell down her face at hearing his message again. Even as she sat listening and looking at her house, everything reminded her of him, especially when he came to live with her after his flat was flooded just weeks before he got the job offer. She thought she had moved past this, she thought she'd gotten over him, maybe even beginning to develop preliminary feelings for Jack, but eight years of love does not disappear overnight. And so a saddened, angry and rather drunk Nikki ended up sleeping under her coat on the stairs.


	5. Chapter 5

**As From Discretion Comes Isolation**  
**Chapter 5**

A/N - Apologies for the slight delay on this chapter but this is where the story takes a dramatic turn and I needed the beta assistance of the amazingly talented Laurahjess(.xoxo), hope you like it, sorry in advance for the cliffhanger!

* * *

Each member of the BAU slept silently as they travelled home from Legoland excluding the designated drivers. The day had completely worn them all out. Other than J.J. and Hotch they were not used to the excitement and energy of children, and they had spent most of the day chasing them around and taking it in turns to accompany them on rides. Morgan and Hotch were the unfortunate ones who had opted to drive back into the city as they were the most comfortable driving on the opposite side of the road. Despite the ride supposedly only taking forty five minutes back into the city it was becoming more and more tedious and irritating as they were stuck in the rush hour traffic and were barely moving.

As the car was stationary Derek turned the cool air conditioning onto him and switched the radio on, turning the volume down low to keep him awake and avoid waking the others. He turned to see J.J. slouched up against the car door with Henry sleeping soundly beside her in his car-seat clutching one of his new Lego toys. He smiled as his Baby Girl snoozed beside him. He had loved to see her so happy while she played with the boys, and more than once she had asked him to join her on the more suitable aged rides. Finally, the traffic began crawling forward but he knew that they would only just make it in time for Emily's seven o'clock reservations.

The situation was similar in the second black hire car. Despite his best efforts to stay awake Rossi had fallen asleep in the passenger seat. He was not as young as he'd like to think he was and the day's excitement had taken its toll. Being younger, Reid had begun the journey chatting enthusiastically with Jack in the backseat but as the drive became increasingly longer they too had dropped off to sleep, leaving Hotch alone with just his thoughts for company. Although he had tried to put it out of his mind, in the silence and stillness of the car he let his thoughts drift to Emily. He couldn't help but think about how completely worn out and sad she had looked earlier. He hadn't noticed it as much the night before but he could now see she had been masking it. Her usual spark which he loved about her was fading; something had changed that had impacted her life greatly and he hoped before they had to leave she would find the courage to confide in them.

Once the team had got into the city they found it fairly easy to get back to their hotel and it took them little time to get ready for their meal with Emily. Despite their delays getting home they arrived at the restaurant with five minutes to spare.

Time ticked on and their friend still hadn't arrived but the group ordered drinks and politely waited before they ordered their food.

"I wonder where she is?" J.J. frowned glancing at her watch, it was now half an hour past the time that they were supposed to meet, "I know she's got all these problems with work but she would always let us know if she was going to be late."

"Should we be worried?" Garcia said quietly her face crumpling slightly with worry "what with all the recent murders, what if she's the next target?"

Morgan took her hand and shook his head, "don't worry Momma, Prentiss was an FBI agent, she can handle herself. And when she gets here, she'll have a lot of explaining to do!"

* * *

The darkened office was lit by one concentrated source of light coming from a lamp on the cluttered desk. Files covered every inch and drowned Emily under a mass of paper as she desperately tried to find that missing link that would key together all her ideas and find her unsub.

She glanced up at the clock, 'damn' she thought realising she was late for her dinner meal with her friends. Quickly gathering up the most important files and throwing them into a bag, she began to exit the room with haste before a thought struck her. Backtracking she opened a drawer of her filing cabinet and rummaged through the carefully organised files before finding what she was looking for. She opened it quickly and scanned the few pages of typed text.

Emily smiled as she knew this was the long awaited link she needed. Tucking the file under her arm she dialed Garcia's number to apologise and let her know she was on her way.

"Hey, I'm so sorry I'm at the office, I'm leaving right now-"

"-Leaving so soon Emily?"

Her heart stopped. Prentiss turned quickly to see a man dressed all in black, his face obscured by the lack of light, standing in the doorway of her office, she had no idea how he could have gotten in as security had been increased since the murders, but that was irrelevant now. She immediately forgot about her friend on the other end of the phone. She suddenly felt so helpless, her gun was in her desk drawer, on the other side of the room. She was defenseless and vulnerable and he knew it. She didn't need to know who he was to know that he was here to kill her.

"I've been waiting for this moment for a long time Emily, I hope you enjoy it just as much as I do," he whispered with a slight growl to his voice.

Emily's shock was soon overtaken by anger. Stood before her was the man that had made her life a living hell for the past year, causing her to lie to her friends and practically cut herself off from everyone she cared about. It was time to end this, she needed to know who he was and she needed to know why.

Prentiss stood tall and narrowed her eyes, trying to get a better look at him, it was not the first time she had stared death in the face, "really? I would like to know who's company I'm in before I can enjoy being in it."

He took a step closer yet his face was still in darkness. His northern English accent rang in her ears; she had heard his voice before, but where had she heard it? He placed his hand on the door handle and she could feel him smiling at her. "Tut tut, I honestly thought you were smarter than that Emily, all that time spent with Dr Spencer Reid didn't rub off on you, did it?"

She blinked but refused to respond. She had known he had been researching her but she had tried so hard not to involve her family. She took a step backwards, knowing that she needed to get to her gun. It was her only way out as he was blocking her one exit. If this would end up as a shootout, fine, but he would be the one on the floor writhing in pain. He had underestimated her; she was an Interpol agent and a former FBI agent. He did not scare her.

"Emily?" Garcia's voice rang loudly from her phone which she had dropped to the floor in shock, "Emily! What's happening? Speak to me, are you ok?"

"Oh dear, Penelope is worried about you," he chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. She could hear the smile in his voice, taunting her.

She remained silent and kept her face neutral.

"You're not speaking very much Emily, a conversation usually involves two people and I remember how much you love to talk," he said snidely.

Her mind was racing; he knew her, how did he know her? She continued to stand still, trying to formulate a better plan. She couldn't think. Her mind was blank, her thoughts jumbled and incoherent.

"Still not a word to an old friend? Are you not wondering why I did all this, the murders? The simple answer is for you. I am ruining your life just as you ruined mine" he said and she could feel his anger as it began to seep into his words.

She scoffed. She could not think of any possible way that she could have unknowingly caused the same level of misery that he had inflicted over the past year, "and how did I do that?" she asked finally, keeping her eyes locked on the mysterious figure whilst moving ever so slowly backwards.

He gave a low laugh, "you really don't know who I am do you? Oh that is a shame, that really is a shame..."

Emily edged closer towards the desk, she was less than a metre away. The shootout was looking like her best option. Unfortunately she was not accustomed to keeping items that could possibly be used for self-defense in such situations in her office. She was sick of listening to his snide comments.

"You think I'm scared of you?" she spat, "you've done your research, you should know I put twisted, murderous bastards like you away for a living, as do my friends down the other end of the phone, so think again" she snarled.

He gave a low chuckle and stepped forward further into the shadows, leaning lazily against the filing cabinet she had been stood beside just minutes before. She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to get a look at his face, but his features were dressed in shadow. Very slowly he lifted his arm upwards and glanced down at his watch lazily.

"Oh Emily, you really have underestimated me, you think you can stereotype me? I've had you paranoid for the last 12 months, you don't think that's a cut above your common psychopath?" He placed his hand into the pocket of his black jacket, "as for your friends, well we have been here for six minutes, and the restaurant you conveniently left them is at least twenty minutes away even with light traffic, but they should get here in time for you."

"What makes you so certain that they won't be here in time for you?" she asked, lifting her chin to feign confidence. In reality, fear was trickling down her spine and through her body.

He repeated the same low chuckle as if laughing at her ignorance to his master plan, "like I said, I did think you were smarter than this, that's what first attracted me to you..." he glanced at his watch once more, "I think this has panned out just as well as I could have expected but unfortunately our time has come to an end. It is time for part two to commence."

Her heart was pounding she loudly that she could feel her pulse throughout her entire body yet she remained completely still, "part two?"

"It was really nice talking to you Emily after all this time but..." he pulled his hand out of his pocket and she saw the outline of the gun, "...you've got to love a cliffhanger"

This was her only opportunity. Without any warning she bolted around her desk and threw open the top drawer, the tips of her fingers just brushing the gun which she kept there but he was too fast. He grabbed the collar of her jacket and spun her around, throwing her down on the grey desktop with such force that sent her papers scattering across the floor. She struggled against him, twisting in his grip but he grabbed both her wrists in one large hand and squeezed tightly, pinning her arms above her head before leaning towards her face.

"Look at me," he growled, placing the gun on the desk beside them and grabbing her chin with his free hand. Her eyes snapped open but the room was almost in complete darkness, the lamp brushed aside in the scuffle. The deep green eyes were not kind but warped, changed by time and the worries of the world. Yet she knew them. She had met so many people that she could not place where she had known him from, but there was a hatred in those eyes for her and she had no idea why.

A crack, that's what it sounded like. She had heard a gunshot so many times before but this time was different. The sound echoed as if it had been fired from a great distance. In reality the bullet had been fired straight into her. As he released his grip she fell backwards and the room swam in and out of focus.

"Emily!" she heard the distant cry of her friend's voice coming from the phone once more as she hit the floor. Her mind flitted to how she had felt the last time she thought she was going to die, when Doyle plunged the piece of wood into her. She had been glad that she had been able to see Morgan one last time and her Irish ex-lover would not be her last memory on earth. Her friends would be too late this time, and those sad, loathsome eyes would be the last image she would ever see, and that was the worst part.

She could feel him leaning over her, she could smell his tangy cologne and feel his hair touch her face as he leant towards her ear. "I'll be seeing them soon enough" he whispered and she could feel his evil grin. Now that she was aware that he knew about them, they would be next and there was nothing she could do about it. She wished she could have killed him. She had done everything she could to keep her family safe, and it hadn't been enough. She was losing blood fast and her body was beginning to shut down. She was going to die here. She wished more than anything that she could just see them one more time, but she wouldn't.

The pain was so sharp but she didn't move despite wanting to scream out in agony. She wanted him to think she was dead, hopefully he would leave and she could call 999, but she couldn't hear anything, and the pain was overwhelming. Black dots danced in her vision and she gritted her teeth to stop from crying.

It was soon impossible not to surrender to the torment and all too quickly her world was plunged into darkness.


	6. Chapter 6

******As From Discretion Comes Isolation**  
Chapter 6

A/N - Just a sort of a filler chapter to keep with the Silent Witness side of things, I know I'm you're still in suspense about Emily but I'll get the next chapter up ASAP. Thank you again to continued support, keep letting me know what you think!

* * *

Since the second Interpol murder, DCI Harrison had the Lyell Centre team working around the clock. He was convinced that the answer to finding the killer was in the pathology although the team knew he was telling himself that so that he could pass the work, and the blame, onto someone else. He had been working the case for almost a year and still there were no real leads and it was common knowledge that he was receiving pressure from above.

Nikki had been oblivious to the dark of the early morning turning into daylight as the sun began to shine pleasantly through the large window. Once she had awoken in the early morning she had found herself unable to sleep and decided to be productive and head into work early as she found the quiet and darkness peaceful to gather her thoughts into a more motivated state. She ached all over from both her hangover and her unfortunate sleeping arrangement from the previous night so she had buried herself in her work to try and ignore her feelings, but it was doing little to mask the pain.

"So do I get to know?" Jack asked as he wheeled his office chair towards her, causing her to glance up briefly before continuing her typing.

"Know what, Jack? If you hadn't noticed I'm bit a swamped at the moment," she said with a slight edge to her voice.

He pointed his index finger at her and leant back lazily causing his chair to squeak, "that! That is what I want to know. Is there a particular reason why you're being cold with me?"

Her rapid typing ceased and she turned fully towards him, "I haven't been cold."

"Oh yes because your demeanour just screams 'I love you Jack'!" he stated sarcastically, "I said 'good morning Nikki' when I came into work, no response. I asked you if you wanted coffee, no more than a grunt and I just wanted to know how you were getting on with your workload and I was blanked again. I can't work out if it's because you're hungover and angry with me because I took you out or because of the kiss, on the cheek I might add, or if it's something else."

Nikki looked down at her lap. She was not about to admit that she was childishly blaming Jack for taking her out and by doing so she had missed a phone call from a man who had held her heart unknowingly for the past eight years. She knew it was utterly ridiculous, Jack had no idea she was waiting for a call from Harry, he had only taken her out to be kind but he was convenient to take her anger out on.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, running a hand through her blonde curls, "I suppose I am a bit out of sorts after last night and quite stressed out over the paperwork for this case, I should be fine tomorrow."

Jack looked at her a little uncertainly, "ok, but you're alright for now? You look like you need a break, if I can help you with anything, just ask."

She nodded her head, "thank you Jack but I need to finish this report and give it to Leo before I can think about a break."

He nodded and smiled at her sympathetically, "ok, I'll just be in the lab if you need me," he said giving her a small wave on the way out of the room.

The printer was making screeching noises as Nikki tried to print off her work. It had been acting up recently but today she knew it had died completely. She sighed and saved her work before walking to Leo's office so to tell him why she could not give him the required report. She stood in his doorway and waited patiently as she usually did, he had his back to her and had his ear pressed to the receiver of his landline.

"Ok, thank you for letting me know, goodbye," he said solemnly down the phone before placing it downwards to hang up.

Nikki walked a few paces into the enclosed space, "everything alright?"

Leo turned his chair around at the sound of his colleague's voice and shook his head slowly, "that was Harrison..."

"Has there been another murder?" she asked quietly fearing that the case was escalating even further. She knew as well as anybody else working on the Interpol case that without any new leads they were no closer to catching the killer.

He shook his head again, "not a murder, but someone was severely wounded after being shot at the Interpol building itself."

She gave a small gasp, "but they've never been bold enough to target inside the building before, when was this? Do they know who it was?" she asked anxiously, hoping that her friend had not gotten so close that they had finally got to her.

"Yesterday evening and they're not releasing names yet, the person in question has been rushed to hospital, we'll find out more once they're through the worst of it," he replied

Nikki gave a frustrated cry, "yesterday evening?! I'm sick of these police officers using us when it suits them but then withholding important information from us, legalities or not!"

Leo stood up and put his arms around his friend, "it'll be ok, we don't know who it is and whoever it is we still need to catch this guy, he's been behind us for too long."


	7. Chapter 7

******As From Discretion Comes Isolation**  
Chapter 7  
  
A/N - Thank for your continued support and your opinions on the story, it means a lot!

* * *

There was a harsh light streaming downwards which was concentrated directly on J.J.'s hard plastic seat. Despite her best efforts and her overwhelming tiredness she had not been able to get any sleep. With her eyes closed and her head resting lazily on her hand she could hear the noise of nurses scurrying around, trying to keep themselves busy through the long night shift. There was an occasional cry or alarm which sounded loudly causing movement among the staff but mostly there was an eerie silence as the patients slept. As she took a deep breath, the distinct smell of hospital food and disinfectant filled her nostrils, the whole scene was not pleasant and she wished she did not have to be there, but she did. This is not how she had expected her quiet first few days week in London to pan out. She was no stranger to uncomfortable nights in hospital waiting rooms, but she had never felt this fearful or wanted to hear good news so desperately. It differed so much to the last time they were in this situation. This time she didn't have to lie to her friends and watch their hearts break in front of her eyes. This time they were all waiting together, praying for the same outcome

No-one knew how long they had been dozing patiently in the waiting area of the London hospital, where all Interpol agents were given the access to private healthcare, when a flustered man came running into the ward. He looked clearly panicked just as the team had many hours ago when they had first arrived.

"Hello?" he looked around desperately in the empty corridor for a member of staff, running his fingers through his dark hair is frustration "can anyone tell me what has happened to Emily Prentiss?"

Hotch looked up at the sound of his friend's name. He too had struggled to sleep. He stood up quietly and walked out of the waiting room towards the man.

"I'm Aaron Hotchner, Emily's friend and former colleague from the FBI, may I ask who you are?"

The man stuck his hand out shakily, "Mr Hotchner it is a great pleasure to meet you, Emily has told me so much about you and your team at the BAU. I'm James Kelson, I'm on Emily's team at Interpol, what happened? My phone died last night so I put it on charge overnight and when I woke up this morning I had all these messages telling me Emily had been shot"

Hotch nodded, "I'm sorry we're meeting under such unfortunate circumstances, we wouldn't have known ourselves had we not organised to have dinner with her last night. She rang to tell us she was sorry that she was late and whilst she was on the phone he approached her in her office. As soon as we heard him we left to try and help her but he had already shot her by the time we arrived. Thankfully the janitor found her and kept the pressure on the wound and when the paramedics arrived they were able to stabilise her but she had to go into surgery as soon as she came in. She is in Intensive Care at the moment and we were told to wait here for any further news," he explained, slipping easily into professional mode.

James stared at him, unable to speak for a moment before he felt his jacket pocket, "sh-she gave me this yesterday morning, she told me to give this to you if..." he trailed off and handed Hotch a blank envelope with shaking fingers, "I'm going to get some coffee, I'll be back in a bit," he said still clearly shaken about the situation.

Hotch walked back into the waiting room staring at the envelope. J.J., Rossi and Morgan were now all awake and waiting to hear the new advancements. Garcia and Reid had volunteered to take the boys back to the hotel as no-one wanted them to experience a trip to the hospital during their holiday.

"Who was that?" Rossi asked as his friend sat beside him.

"A member of Prentiss' team, he's pretty shaken up, I think he's taking it all in, it must be hard to lose two of your teammates and then find out your boss has been shot, it puts you in a vulnerable position."

Morgan nodded, "what's with the envelope?"

"He gave it to me, he said Prentiss had given it to him yesterday morning to give to us if anything should happen to her" he replied beginning to open it. The page was filled with Emily's words, relaying information that she obviously felt needed to be told to her team no matter what.

_Family,_

_If you're reading this letter it means something has happened to me but don't worry about that for now, I need you. Just weeks after starting at Interpol I received a text from a disposable cell which said 'look out for more x' there was also a link to a news article about a murder which had occurred the previous day, I looked into it but the local police had no leads so the trail went cold and my team had international cases to attend to. There was then a second murder almost exactly a month later except it was further north, I knew it wasn't a coincidence as the MO was too similar so began working on the case alongside my other cases. The murders continued once a month, alternating between the two locations until two weeks ago when the first member of my team was killed. This confirmed my suspicions that whoever the unsub was, he was getting closer to us. I had suspected someone had been stalking me from the start, possibly the unsub, so I locked down my team making everything on this case need-to-know only. James is the only other member of the team who knows what has been happening so any questions ask him and he can authorise you to consult on the case for Interpol so you are helping legally, I have also left the most important case files with him to help you. I need you to carry on where I left off, find the unsub and stop these murders. I have been working closely with pathologist Professor Leo Dalton and Dr Nikki Alexander of the Lyell Centre so please contact them to get started._

_I'm sorry I've ruined your vacation, thank you I love you all - Emily._

There was a stunned silence as they finally understood the burden their friend had been carrying and they wished that she had not had to deal with it alone.

"I don't think there is any doubt that we are going to help Emily in whatever way possible" Hotch said calmly, "I know it'll be different from working cases back home but she has presented us with the information we need, hopefully fresh eyes will give the case a new perspective."

The others nodded in response before waiting for further instruction from their Unit Chief.

Hotch glanced at his watch, it read 7.43am, "I think it's best if Morgan and Dave you go back to the hotel, update Garcia and see what information she can access, then you can begin looking through Emily's notes, see how much of a working profile she had of our unsub. J.J., you and I will get Reid and visit the Lyell Centre and speak to this Professor Dalton and see how he can help us," he paused as he noticed that James had returned and was standing in the hallway clutching a polystyrene cup and a brown paper file, "keep in touch, any information we know will be beneficial," he concluded as he got to his feet.

"James" he said from the doorway, the man turned and smiled weakly "Emily has asked us to continue working the case whilst she can't, would you be able to elaborate on why she believed she was being stalked?"

He nodded solemnly, "after the first text we came to the conclusion that he was just trying to seek attention and instead of contacting the newspapers directly, he contacted us. However, after the second murder she began to see small and usually unnoticeable changes happening to her email account such as emails being deleted, folders renamed things like that so she contacted your technical analyst and asked her if they were signs of your account being hacked, pretending it was relevant to a case and she said yes. We put all sorts of firewalls up but he seemed to break through them, we learnt her phone was also being hacked but no matter how many times she changed her phone he broke into it as well. That is why she has been so distant over the past year, it isn't because she doesn't care about you, she really does but she couldn't risk him finding out any more about her life."

Hotch stared at him gravely, he thought back to how each of his team at some point had commented on the lack of contact they had had with Emily. They had laughed at how she was living the high life in London but he knew that they felt they were losing her, and now they knew why. "Thank you James, I know this must be hard for you. We are going to visit the Lyell Centre as Emily said in her letter that she had been working closely with the pathologists there, would you be able to authorise our team to consult on the case and stay here and update us if there is any change in her state?"

"Of course" he nodded and handed the file to him, "here is the case file she left with me, I suppose she wanted you to have it and if you need any extra information about the case, I'll be happy to help if I can."

"Thank you" he said as his team began to leave the waiting room, all of them tired and sore from their sleepless night but they had a job to do now. One of their own had been hurt and it was time to make them pay.


	8. Chapter 8

**As From Discretion Comes Isolation  
Chapter 8**

A/N - Thank you again for your support, ti me for the teams to finally come together to catch their killer!

* * *

Reid continued to read over Emily's letter after they swung out of the black car and headed towards the tall grey building. The words scrawled there were already ingrained in his memory, but something about it was bugging him.

"Nikki Alexander" he repeated to himself frowning at the piece of paper, "I've heard that name before."

J.J. pushed open the door, "we've heard lots of names before Spence, don't worry about it."

He furrowed his brow deeper in thought as he knew he had heard the name recently but he couldn't place where. Still unconvinced he sighed and followed his colleagues to the elevator where they travelled up to the pathology floor. It was irrelevant considering his worry for his friend yet it kept nagging at his memory, the name just out of his grasp like an itch you can't reach. Once they had filed out onto their desired floor they were met by locked glass doors and a large security guard who frowned at them with his arms folded.

"Excuse me," Hotch said as he slipped easily into his usual professional manner, "we've come to see Professor Leo Dalton or Dr Nikki Alexander."

The security guard grunted in response, "do you have an appointment?"

"No, we're here on behalf of Emily Prentiss of London Interpol and it is essential that we speak to them," Hotch replied with slight annoyance. Back home he could just show his credentials in order to gain him access, but here they meant nothing. The FBI were guests in London and Hotch was out of his jurisdiction. He had no authority here.

"One moment" he grunted again scanning his pass card against the panel which granted him access through the glass doors. The three FBI agents waited in silence while the guard disappeared and returned with an older man who they assumed was Leo Dalton.

The glass doors were opened once more and the man stuck his hand out to each of the agents, "I'm Professor Leo Dalton, what can I do for you?" he asked politely.

"My name's Aaron Hotchner and this is Jennifer Jareau and Dr Spencer Reid, we are former colleagues of Emily Prentiss from the Behavioural Analysis Unit for the FBI. I believe you have been working closely with her on a set of recent homicides"

Leo folded his arms across his chest and nodded, "that is correct, yes"

"Emily has requested that we consult on the matter. Is there anywhere we can go to discuss this further?" Hotch asked, wary of talking about such matters when Emily had been explicit in requesting that this information be kept confidential.

"Yes of course" he said turning back to allow the agents access into their department. They followed the professor through the hallway and past two women and a man who were in deep discussion over a microscope. They stopped briefly and looked up as the group walked by and into the large, enclosed office.

After sitting opposite Leo at his desk Hotch handed him the envelope which contained Emily's letter. Never taking his inquisitive gaze away from Hotch, Leo slid the piece of paper out and scanned through it quickly as his expression turned from neutral to somber.

He folded the letter in half once more and placed it onto the desk, "am I right in saying it was Emily who was shot at Interpol last night?" he asked quietly, leaning forward and stacking his hands neatly in front of him.

Hotch nodded slowly, it was evident from the professor's response that Emily had grown close to his team also and her welfare had caused them concern.

Leo sat staring down at his desk momentarily before he stood up and beckoned the blonde haired woman into the office.

"Nikki Alexander, I would like you to meet Aaron Hotchner, Jennifer Jareau and Spencer Reid from the FBI, they were former teammates of Emily" he introduced calmly, gesturing to each agent in turn.

She smiled warmly and shook each of their hands, "nice to meet you, is everything alright?"

Leo shook his head sadly, "it was Emily who was shot last night."

Nikki gasped and brought her hand to her mouth in shock. She had first met Emily 10 months ago after the first murder victim was brought in to the Lyell Centre for a post-mortem. Both women were still fairly vulnerable; Emily still adapting to her new life in London, whilst Nikki was adjusting to life without Harry. It was Emily who suggested the two of them go for a drink after a hard day of trying to determined the murderer's motives and their friendship developed from there. With both being strong, busy professional women in a predominantly male working environment, it was nice to spend time with someone they could relate to.

"Is she alright?" she asked quietly.

"She's in ICU at the moment and they're monitoring her progress," J.J. explained with an understanding smile, as Leo handed his friend the letter which she immediately skimmed through.

Being already knowledgeable about most of what the letter disclosed, she looked at the agents who were sat patiently, "what would you like to know?"

"We would like to start at the beginning if possible, the rest of our team is looking through Prentiss' notes back at our hotel so we would like to focus on victimology to help us create a working profile," Hotch explained, taking the letter back from Nikki and tucking carefully into the inside pocket of his jacket.

Leo looked up, "we will help you in whatever way we can, I'll go and brief Jack and Clarissa, excuse me" he said as he got to his feet and headed towards the lab which they had passed on their way into the office.

"So were you over here for work or a recreational visit?" Nikki asked trying to make friendly conversation. She was trying her hardest to mask her fear and worry for her friend. These people who were asking for her help had clearly known Emily a lot longer, and she could only imagine their concern for her. She swallowed around a hard lump in her throat and brushed her blonde curls away from her face with shaking hands.

J.J. smiled, "we were supposed to be on vacation but we should have learnt that we would never get much of a break!" she looked knowingly at her colleagues thinking back to the time that they had tried to take a few weeks off which ended with their former colleague Elle being arrested in Jamaica and a decapitated head being sent in a box to their former boss Gideon's cabin.

Nikki mirrored the smile. She also knew how a holiday could turn disastrous. She remembered the time when Harry had gone to investigate a case Hungary with his girlfriend of the time but they were also taking time away, though while they were away she had been murdered. He had gotten mixed up with some dangerous people, and in order to avoid being killed himself, he had been forced to fake his own death. She would never forget the pain she had felt in those long and torturous two days thinking she had lost him forever.

Reid was frowning at a photograph of Leo, Nikki and Harry at a conference dinner several years ago which was framed on the professor's desk, "I'm sorry but who is this?" he asked, turning to Nikki.

She looked at the photo, "that's Harry Cunningham, he worked here as a pathologist for ten years before he moved to New York to start a new job last year."

"Harry Cunningham! Yes, Hotch, J.J. do you remember the strangler case from last month in New York with the British medical examiner? That's him, that's why I recognised the name Nikki Alexander because he talked about you!" Reid exclaimed, overjoyed that he was finally able to place the name which had been bugging him since he'd heard it just hours ago.

Nikki's head snapped up attentively and her heart started pounding "he did?"

At that moment Leo walked back into the office carrying an armful of files accompanied by a man who could only be Jack.

"What's going on?" the Irish forensic scientist asked, noticing Nikki's change in behaviour from her grumpy and sullen mood earlier that morning.

"Leo, they worked with Harry in New York!" she exclaimed a little too excitedly.

He placed the files onto his desk and looked at the agents, "really?"

"Reid, it was you and Morgan who went to the M.E. on that case so we never met him" J.J. stated.

The young genius nodded, "oh yeah, anyway the women this particular unsub was targeting were strong, professional women and he said my former colleague Nikki Alexander would have been a definite target for this man, they don't come much more strong and intelligent than her," he recited.

Jack frowned. After the first few months of working with Nikki and Leo it had become apparent that Harry would be mentioned frequently and he had accepted that, but it was evident that Nikki still had feelings for him and this was bound to intensify them.

"How do you remember that?" Jack asked curiously.

Reid simply smiled, "I have an eidetic memory, it gives me the ability to remember most of what I read and most of what I hear as well actually"

Jack looked at Nikki and raised his eyebrows causing her to stifle a laugh.

"Right these are our victims" Leo said indicating to the large pile of files "they are in chronological order so would you like me to go through them with you or..."

Hotch nodded, "any help you can give us would be much appreciated, thank you but we understand if you have other cases"

"We have been working this case for almost a year, finally ending it takes precedence over everything. We can set up in the conference room," Leo said with a weary look on his face. Hotch could tell that this case had been a burden not only to Emily but to their entire team and he hoped that they could help them catch this killer.

"Do you know if anyone has gone over Emily's office yet?" Jack asked Leo as he turned to leave.

Leo shook his head, "not that I'm aware of"

Jack grinned slightly and nodded at Nikki "that's my territory then, I'll let you know what I find"

"Reid, go with him" Hotch ordered looking at the young agent, "we need you to profile the scene"

He nodded and stood up next to Jack, leaving the team to begin to scour through the twelve murder victims case files in the hope that finally someone could put an end to this man's destruction. Hotch stared at them blankly, the fact that the unsub had the nerve to harm somebody he cared for, someone who he considered family, just made the need to put them behind bars so much stronger. And as he looked around at the determined faces of his team, Leo, Nikki and Jack, he realised what a strong force Emily had behind her, and he had full confidence that they would close this case.


	9. Chapter 9

**As From Discretion Comes Isolation**  
**Chapter Nine**

A/N - Sorry it's taken so long, life is getting in the way! Hope it was worth the wait though...

* * *

There was silence as the forensic scientist and the profiler travelled to the crime scene of their mutual friend. Despite being similar in age the two men could not be more different and their blatant lack of conversation emphasised this.

They hastily walked through the official building of the Interpol headquarters and Jack led the way to Emily's office. The large office overlooking the city had copious amounts of space despite there being several filing cabinets, a desk and a several chairs filling the area. The main addition left by the killer was the scrawling of 'This is not The End' written in black ink along the wall opposite where Emily was shot. They ducked under the yellow crime scene tape and began busying themselves with their own jobs.

The young FBI agent frowned as he looked up at the wall, "this wasn't at any of the other crime scenes?" he asked pulling the blue latex gloves over his hands, the elastic snapping into place.

Jack frowned and shook his head, "nope, that's definitely new."

Reid stared at the jagged letters scrawled on the wall, his brow knitted together in thought. How had the unsub had time to write that on the wall and escape after he had shot Emily before the janitor had heard the gunshot and come in to stabilise her? They had called the police and paramedics as soon as Garcia had heard him on the phone, the chronology did not make sense but he ignored it for the moment; he had a job to do.

Reid suddenly felt his chest tightening as he began looking through his friend's belongings. He soon saw that despite the room being bland and ordinary she kept several souvenirs from Garcia in her top drawer, a small, pink plastic unicorn and a flashing pen. He smiled as he also saw a framed photograph of their seven-piece family together at J.J. and Will's wedding before she left which was situated beneath her gun. These small things were the only personal touches to the official room and if Reid had been profiling her, he would have been able to reveal very little of Emily and her life. She was smart and this was a deliberate decision on her part to remain as anonymous in her job as she could. She was a fantastic profiler, but Reid knew that she liked to keep herself to herself. The office had been left exactly as it was, untouched since Emily had been rushed to the hospital. This drawer was open, but nothing appeared to have been removed which was an indicator that Emily had reached for the gun, but she hadn't been quick enough. Reid knew Emily as a fierce fighter and knew that she would have put up a fight before she was shot. This crime scene would look very different if she had just been able to reach her gun.

After Jack had scooped a small pile of ash into a test tube from the carpet near the closest filing cabinet to the door he looked over to Reid, "so I'm curious, if you're a genius how come you're in the FBI? Couldn't you have cured cancer or something?"

Reid glanced up from the drawer so that his long hair fell in front of his face, "I found I had a purpose there that I hadn't found before, there is something very right about being in my team. I feel useful to them, like I belong there, you know," he replied with a small fond smile.

Jack nodded, "this profiling stuff actually works then?"

"If it didn't the last nine years of my life would have been useless, yeah it does."

Cockily Jack crossed his arms across his chest, "profile me?" he grinned, eyebrows raised in a silent challenge.

Reid stood up straight behind the desk, "ok, you like to defend your independence and show your male dominance that's why you fight, which is shown by the cuts on your face and the older scars on your hands and arms, I know it is cage fighting as there was a ticket from your fight two nights ago in your car. Your car also showed that you are single and enjoy the bachelor lifestyle as you dedicate your time to your cases through work..."

Jack looked quite taken back but a smile crept onto his face in amusement, "alright smartboy I'm convinced! Emily profiled me when I first met her but I thought that was just her" he paused and looked down at the blood stain, "I can't believe this has happened to her, I know we've only known her a year but this case has had us spending a lot of time together you know."

Reid just looked at him, a wave of jealousy flowed through him at the thought that these strangers had spent the past year with Emily when she should have been safe with her family, but that wasn't her life anymore, he had to keep reminding himself.

"She's an easy person to like" he said croakily, struggling to get his words out. He dropped his eyes away from Jack's and cleared his throat.

"Yeah..." Jack noted the sadness on Reid's face. He walked over and placed his hand on his shoulder, "she'll be alright, she's strong; I know she'll pull through this."

He was unsure if Jack was fully aware of what Emily had been through the year before but he of all people knew how strong she was. He smiled gratefully at him before turning and picking up the black laptop with his blue latex gloves, "do you think I can take this for our technical analyst to use?"

Jack shrugged, "I suppose so, Emily would've wanted you to have all the records just get your boss to check with James" Reid quickly sent a text to Hotch before placing the laptop in his brown satchel, "so what have you learnt from the scene then? My job's pretty wasted cause this guy takes forensic countermeasures but that ash is questionable."

"Ash?" he said with a surprised tone, "he must have done that, she must have found something that he didn't want to be seen, that must have been where the confrontation began. She would have moved slowly trying to reach for her gun in her desk but he was too fast, pushed her onto the desk so the papers scattered onto the floor and then shot her. The writing on the wall is interesting though, he has capitalised 'The End' like the ending of a story which means he sees this vendetta against Emily as his own story, a story that has not reached its final chapters yet."

* * *

The conference room was quiet as Leo, Hotch, Nikki and J.J. scoured through the case files of the twelve victims.

J.J. frowned at two open files in front of her, "he appears to be killing twice a month but is the unsub killing in two different parts of the country?"

"Excuse my ignorance but what's an unsub?" Nikki asked from across the table.

"Unknown subject, it's a term we use to call the offender" Hotch explained.

Nikki nodded, "right, yes it does appear that he kills once a month and Emily assumed he commuted to and from London and Leeds which is his secondary location. She deduced one is his home and the other is where he works, which is why he alternates between the two locations"

"What did you learn from the postmortems?" Hotch asked.

"We only did the postmortems of the victims in London but we have connections with the pathologist in Leeds so he sent us his autopsies. The victims seemed to be opportunistic as they crossed racial and gender lines, they were taken the city from the evening when it's quieter but not empty and tortured for around twenty four hours before disposing of the body. Emily said his disposal of the bodies meant he showed no remorse and he left them open in relatively public spaces so to make a statement. MO was a gunshot to the back of the head, no forensic evidence was left, the worrying part and how we knew they were linking was the signature" Leo pulled out one of the photos of the victims bodies, "see the deep cuts these are apparent on each of our victims, one on the left shoulder and one on the right hip."

Hotch took the photograph and looked at it carefully, "an unusual signature, would it be ok for me to invite the rest of our team here?"

Leo nodded, "of course"

J.J. turned to Hotch, "what about the boys? We were on vacation visiting Emily and we brought our sons with us, would it be possible for them to play somewhere?" she asked.

Nikki smiled, "there is a room next door that'd be fine, Clarissa can keep an eye on them"

"Great" J.J. said returning her grin.

Twenty minutes after calling the other half of the BAU team arrived. Rossi led the group as Morgan carried Jack and Garcia held Henry. They couldn't look less like FBI agents as Rossi was wearing a brown fleece with his faded jeans, Morgan had one of his tight black t-shirts and black jeans and then there was Garcia. Before coming she had coordinated her wardrobe to stick with a red, white and blue them, today despite the problems of the day she was wearing her Union Jack top which she had purchased on her last visit to the country, a red skirt and white heels complete with large Union Jack earrings and blue sparkling glasses.

"Professor Leo Dalton and Dr Nikki Alexander I would like you to meet Agents David Rossi and Derek Morgan and our Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia"

Garcia smiled broadly and waved, "hi!" she looked at the little boy in her arms, "are you going to say hi Henry?" shyly he waved his little hand.

"This is my son Henry and Hotch's son Jack" J.J. explained taking the boy into her arms, "can I take them into that room now please?"

"Of course, this way" said Leo leading her out of the room.

Rossi looked around as he sat down at the table, "what've you done with Reid?"

"He's gone to Emily's office with our forensic scientist Jack" Nikki answered.

Hotch looked at Morgan, "what did you learn from Emily's notes?"

Garcia handed him the file out of her handbag from beside him, "the same as what you've deduced I think" he replied glancing at the notes they'd made so far on the whiteboard, "her preliminary profile says a white male, mid to late 30s commutes between Leeds and London, he's methodical and organised because he takes forensic counter measures, she's not clear how this is linked to her stalker."

"I think we need to look at them as two separate cases first, Dave what were your thoughts?" Hotch asked as Leo and J.J. reentered the room.

The older man frowned, "something has been nagging at me, this guy doesn't miss, all these kills are methodical, organised, he sets out to kill and he does. Prentiss was in the room alone with the killer, she was unarmed, so why is she still alive?"

"That crossed my mind too, this links back to it being personal, he wanted to keep her alive. The only question is why?"

Rossi nodded with the frown still on his face, "but if it was personal then what would he gain from her being alive?"

Their thoughts were interrupted by the return of Jack and Reid, "hey troops!" Jack smiled taking a seat beside Nikki. He slouched deeply in the seat, balancing one foot on his knee and drooping an arm across the back of Nikki's chair. He looked around the room with an eager grin and his eyes lingered several moments on Garcia's colourfull attire.

Leo shook his head slightly, "Jack Hodgson, David Rossi, Derek Morgan and Penelope Garcia" he introduced quickly, "what did you find in her office?"

"The crime scene was pretty clean like the rest of them but there was one significant difference, 'this is not The End' was written on the wall, there were also some ashes by the filing cabinet, we think they are paper remains as if Emily found something that the killer didn't want anyone else to know about so he burnt it," Jack explained.

Hotch looked across the table, "is that the impression you got as well Reid?"

Reid looked up, "uh, yeah, is it ok if I go and see Emily? I need to get out for a bit, sorry."

Hotch nodded, "we'll call you if there are any new advancements."

He gave a weak smile in response and placed Emily's laptop on the conference table before leaving hastily.

"Is he going to be ok?" Garcia asked concernedly

"He will be, his grief for Maeve is still fresh; he can't lose Emily again."


	10. Chapter 10

**As From Discretion Comes Isolation**  
**Chapter 10**

A/N - As exams loom writing is the only thing keeping my sanity... Just a short and sweet chapter for Reid.

* * *

The hospital was quiet as Reid pushed open the door to Emily's private room. She looked so vulnerable connected to the various machines and drips which were keeping her alive, he had always known her to be so strong and it was heartbreaking to see her like that. The last time he didn't get to see her; he didn't get to say goodbye. Instead he had been told seven short bone-chilling words: 'she never made it off the table'.

A man who he assumed to be James was snoring lightly from the armchair beside her bed, his chin resting lazily on his chest. He noticed the dark circles around his eyes hinting at his lack of sleep; he had been at the hospital since the early hours of the morning. Reid quietly sat on the chair on the other side of the bed and stared up at the ceiling, he was unsure of what he thought he would achieve by coming here but he knew he had to. He couldn't focus on the case without seeing her, no matter how weak she was, he needed to see she was going to be alright.

Sensing another presence James shook himself awake, he looked at Reid and smiled, "I've already tried" he said following his gaze upwards, "the ceiling tiles, I got to 67 and lost count"

"124" Reid replied automatically looking at the man across from an unconscious Emily.

"Please tell me I'm in the presence of Doctor Spencer Reid" he laughed gently, shaking his head slightly.

Reid smiled awkwardly, "yeah"

James chuckled, "Emily told me so much about you, she said you're a genius!"

"Uh thanks, it's statistically proven, I have an IQ of 187, an eidetic memory, and can read 20,000 words per minute" he nodded slowly.

"I've cleared your team to consult on the case by the way, you are officially aiding the investigation" James explained.

Reid simply smiled again, as nice as this man had been he desperately wanted time to sit with his friend alone.

After a couple of minutes of silence James took the hint and got slowly to his feet, "well I am in desperate need of a cup of tea, would you like anything?" he asked.

"No, thank you" Reid replied as James swiftly left the room.

Once alone with Emily, he took a deep breath and entwined his fingers through hers. Shifting his position so he was leaning his elbows on the bed, he noticed her fingernails; she'd been biting at them again.

"Hi Emily, we haven't really had a chance to talk since we got here, I guess now is as good a chance as any. I've missed you, really missed you. You were always a great listener, as much as I love the others, you never treated me like a baby, especially with my headaches, which have gone now by the way. That was because of my friend Maeve, it's coming up to six months now and it still hurts to say her name, it was the same with you when we thought..." he took another shaky deep breath, "I'm sure Garcia told you about Maeve, as much of a friend Blake has become I am certain if you had been there I would've told you first, because you wouldn't have thought it odd or made fun, you would've accepted it. I spoke to her ten months and we never met, I loved her and she died, it wasn't fair but when is anything we ever do fair? We try to help people and all that happens is that we are punished, I don't see why. Anyway I'm here for you, I understand why you keep your secrets it's not out of cruelty or distrust, it's out of love and protection, we are going to solve this case for you. You are so strong Emily, you were the one who denied all the odds last time and I live in a statistical world but you, you will be our miracle again."

Reid patted her hand gently before standing up, he walked around the spacious private hospital room unsure of what to do with himself. He had said what he had needed to say and he had seen Emily was alright but he couldn't go back yet, he had left too abruptly to return half an hour later and he still needed time. His heart did still ache every time he thought of Maeve and the time they should have had together and now they never would; he didn't know if he would ever find another girl who would understand him the way she did, he just hoped he wouldn't have to lose Emily too, he didn't think he could handle that. Taking dilaudid had already crossed his mind several times but he had been clean for almost six years now, he wasn't going to give in that easily.

Curiously he picked up the doctor's notes at the end of the bed as for something to do and he wanted a further insight into his friend's condition. He frowned as he came to a page that was unfamiliar to him. He scanned it and soon realised where he'd seen similar notes earlier that day. Hastily he pulled out his phone and took a picture of the note page before going out to the corridor to look for James. Thankfully he was sat on the seats situated in the hall drinking tea from a polystyrene cup.

"James! Do you know what these notes indicate?" Reid asked quickly.

He took the phone and frowned as he studied it for a moment, "I believe it is a record of any specific birth marks, scars or tattoos, why?"

"It's important, thank you, I have to go" he cried as he sped down the corridor and into the car park as the rare afternoon sun glared in his eyes. This was the missing link that they needed to crack this case, it was how everything was tied together. Emily. As they suspected it was all about her and from the unsub's message it was not over, he needed to brief the team as quickly as possible so they could catch him before he destroyed their friend's life completely.

Reid pulled out his phone and held it to his ear, "Hotch? We have a problem, I think this is a lot more personal than we thought!"


	11. Chapter 11

**As From Discretion Comes Isolation**  
**Chapter 11**

A/N - Wow. I'm in post-finale emotional breakdown mode. At least the chronology is almost right for this story now and all the characters in it survived! Revision is also killing me slowly but writing helps - enjoy!

* * *

There was little difference between the scene that Reid had left in the conference room in the Lyell Centre to the one he returned to hours later. Both teams were situated around the round table and the photographs of the victims were staring back at them from the large screen which was projected onto the wall. They were arranged in chronological order with the date of their death reduced to a caption below, showing how each of them had had their lives cut short over the past year. Garcia had successfully connected her laptop to their system as well as reviewing the records on Emily's laptop from her office, while J.J. and Nikki were busy scribbling notes on the whiteboard.

Reid placed his brown satchel on the table and was about to continue his revelation which he had discovered at the hospital when a tall man in a suit who looked like he was in his fifties with his serious, weary look and greying hair walked through the door.

"Harrison" Leo said looking up in surprise, "what are you doing here? These are Agents Hotchner, Rossi, Reid, Jareau, Morgan and Garcia, they are aiding the investigation."

The man took a seat at the end of the conference table and looked down at the unfamiliar faces, "so I am aware" he stated in his usual monotone voice, "I took a call from James Kelson of Interpol this afternoon explaining that friends of Emily Prentiss from the FBI were now consulting on this case so I thought I would come and meet these new consultants and hear their opinion"

Hotch looked at the man. He was just like the Police Chiefs and Sheriffs he had met so many times before who felt like their authority was being undermined by the big guys from the FBI when all they were trying to do was help.

"I just hope" Harrison added snidely, "that your friendship with Emily won't blur your outlook on the case."

Hotch kept his face neutral as he could see his team becoming annoyed by this man's comments, "I can assure you, we are treating this case with the up most professionalism"

Harrison grunted slightly in response and looked around, "well you seem to have everything covered here, keep me informed of any new leads" he said briskly as he left the room.

Garcia looked above her sparkling glasses, "he doesn't like us much"

Jack laughed, "he doesn't like us much either!"

Hotch looked across the table to Reid who was sat quietly, "what did you learn at the hospital?"

Reid was jerked out of his worried thoughts by the sound of his unit chief's voice and turned quickly to face the teams technician "oh yeah, Garcia would you be able to pull up an outline of the human body?"

"In my sleep my precious" she said simply and within a minute of him asking the pictures of the victims was replaced with the image Reid had requested. He walked over to the screen looking at the picture of the notes he had taken on his phone.

Morgan frowned at the screen, "what have you found kid?"

"Could you now please highlight the right hip, left shoulder and the lefthand side of the chest?" the group continued to look at what he was constructing, confused of the point he was trying to make, "that's great, finally can you put up any of the M.E. photographs showing the victims at full length"

As they saw the comparison their frowns deepened, "what's the connection?" Jack asked, "what's the significance of the highlighted areas on the outline?"

Reid pointed to the screen at the left shoulder and then to the right hip, "according to her notes at the hospital, these are the exact locations where Emily's tattoos are"

They all looked at him horrified, Garcia brought her hand to her face and shook her head slowly, "what does this mean? Why are they doing this?"

Leo narrowed his eyes in concentration as he looked at the images, "and what about the the chest? What does that represent?"

"Doyle" J.J. began quietly the BAU team closed their eyes as they knew what that man had done to her, how deeply he had scarred her, physically and emotionally. They were unsure of the detail Emily had disclosed to her new friends about her past life. If she had been secretive about France then it would not be surprising if this was new information to them. "He branded her with a clover when he held her captive but if this is about Emily and the signature does represent where her tattoos are he would have had to have known her before last year when Doyle branded her because if so he would've cut there too"

Nikki nodded beside her, "so whatever connection Emily had with the killer, she knew him before she arrived in London"

"Garcia can you find out when the last time Prentiss spent time in London was before now?" Hotch asked, keeping up his collected front although he too worried for Emily's safety. The unsub had made it clear that this was not the end of her suffering and he wanted to protect his friend as much as he could.

Penelope began typing furiously on Emily's laptop, her frown deepening as she wished desperately that she had the luxury of her own programming in her lair back home in the BAU, "just give me a moment this system is ancient!"

Morgan leant over her shoulder and grinned at her as he watched her becoming increasingly more annoyed, "is it too ancient for you Baby?"

She snapped her head up to him and snorted, "ha! I could work my way around Windows 97, it would be horribly painful, but I could do it!" she continued to type with force, "just give me a minu- oh this looks promising. In 2004 Emily spent six months in London when she was working with Interpol the first time round before she was placed with Doyle in France"

"Is there any further information about that time?" Rossi asked from the other side of the room.

Garcia shook her head, "nothing out of the ordinary, I suppose we'll have to wait until she wakes up."

Hotch looked up from his phone which had just began vibrating in his pocket, "we won't have to wait much longer. James has been in contact, Emily's conscious."


	12. Chapter 12

**As From Discretion Comes Isolation  
Chapter 12**

A/N - Hello lovely, loyal readers I am so sorry this update has taken so long but life has been mad busy with exams but only one more to go so thought I'd try and get this story moving again as we reach the climax. As ever thank you for your reviews and for following it is much appreciated.

* * *

When Hotch, J.J. and Garcia returned to the hospital in the early evening James was nowhere to be seen. In the room Emily appeared to be sleeping but her eyes fluttered open as she awoke to the sound of the entrance of her friends.

"Hey you" Penelope smiled sitting in the chair beside her bed.

Emily smiled weakly and continued to blink as her eyes adjusted to the light.

J.J. took the chair on the other side of the bed and pulled it closer, "how're you feeling?" she asked softly.

"Like I've been run over by a steam roller!" she croaked trying to move to be more comfortable, "how long have I been out?"

"About a day" Hotch replied standing behind J.J.

Emily nodded slowly, "did James give you the letter? Did you speak to Nikki and Leo?"

Penelope nodded and took her hand, "why didn't you tell us? We couldn't helped in some way, you shouldn't have had to deal with it on your own"

She shook her head wearily, she knew she had done the right thing in protecting her family by not telling them the truth despite the inevitable outcome of him coming for her, "it wasn't your battle, I was dealing with it. I suppose you want to know what happened" she answered closing her eyes briefly.

"Only if you're ready" Hotch replied.

She lay her head back and closed her eyes again, "I was in my office going through some final paperwork, I was thinking about the unsub's signature and realised that they were in the same place as my tattoos, although this scared me I already knew how personal this was so I was glad that this was our first break in a long time. I soon realised the time, I was late to meet you for dinner so I placed the files into my bag before calling Garcia. He was there in the doorway, I don't know how he got in, we had locked down on security. I couldn't see him, he was in dark clothing and he stood in the shadows. I recognised his voice but I can't place it." Emily found herself there, back in the office again, "he is taunting me, laughs at the fact I can't remember him, he knows about you all, he says the murders were for me and he says it's time for part two. He's pulled out the gun. He says he'll see me soon." she opened her eyes, "then it all goes black"

Hotch nodded. It pained him to hear Emily relive her experience. He knew how hard this was for her, and he felt a surge of anger swell in his stomach towards whoever had dared to do this to his family. "We need to ask you about the last time you stayed in London, in 2004, did anything significant happen?"

She frowned in thought, her memories, her life, was a blur, "I don't know, everything's quite groggy right now, I'm sorry"

"It's ok" J.J. smiled, "just take your time and think about it"

Emily looked around the room, "where's James?"

Her friends looked at her with confusion, "we thought you'd spoken to him and then he'd left to go home, he wasn't here when we arrived" Garcia replied.

She shook her head, "no... you were the first people I've spoken to since waking up, I haven't seen James"

Hotch mirrored her frown, "it was him who told us that you were waking up so we assumed he'd spoken to you"

Panic immediately struck her, this man was methodical, if he wanted you dead then you would die, she was alive for a reason. "I need to see my phone, where is my phone?" she cried looking around frantically.

Garcia opened the cupboard beside her bed and rummaged through her handbag before pulling out her smartphone.

Hastily, she unlocked the phone so that it lit up in front of her, there was message. Her heart stopped momentarily as she opened it and fear swept over her making her unable to move.

"Em? What's wrong?" Penelope asked, her voice full of concern.

"No..." she said in a whisper which was barely audible, she couldn't stop staring at the photo which had been sent to her, how did he know? She had done everything in her power to stop this happening and yet he had still won. Of course he wanted to her alive, he wanted her to have everything taken away from her, she just didn't know why.

Still unable to speak she slowly held the phone out to Hotch. He looked closely and saw the reason behind her fear. The photo was taken in a darkened room but in the centre under a harsh, bright stream of light was James. Tied to a chair with thick rope, his head was slumped on his chest and it was evident that he had been beaten badly. The text message sent from James' phone attached to the photo read 'this is not The End' mirroring what was written on the wall of Emily's office.

Hotch silently handed the phone to J.J., "Emily there is no doubt that this is a personal vendetta against you, your other team members were killed with the same MO as his previous victims yet James has been kidnapped and tortured. You need to tell us the nature of your relationship with him and true involvement now so we can find him"

She chewed her bottom lip nervously as J.J. passed the phone across the bed to Garcia, "James... James does work for Interpol but he isn't on my team. We met when I first arrived here and just before the murders and stalking began we started dating, but when the stalking became a serious threat we decided it was best not to tell anyone and to keep it under wraps as much as possible-"

"Uh Em, sorry to interrupt but..." Penelope frowned at the screen and pinched her fingers together to allow the picture to zoom in, "I don't know if this is relevant but there is what looks like a crib in the corner of the picture"

Emily snatched the phone out of her friend's hands and looked closer, a short cry escaped from her lips and a shaking hand flew to her mouth in shock as her eyes began to fill with tears. It was heartbreaking for her friends to see her so vulnerable when she was usually the strong one.

Her eyes were fixated on the crib, words would not formulate, her world was collapsing all too quickly. Through her silent, heart-wrenching sobs she could only whisper two words:

"My baby"


	13. Chapter 13

**As From Discretion Comes Isolation  
Chapter 13**

A/N - As a celebration for my exams finishing today here is the next chapter! Credit to my wonderful friend laurahjess[.xoxo] who added chunks to this chapter and made it fantastic. Thank you for reading it is much appreciated.

* * *

"Baby?" J.J. repeated slowly, staring at her friend in disbelief.

Emily nodded slowly as tears continued to fall down her face, "Bella. It was a name that always stuck in my head after my abortion in Italy as it means beautiful in Italian; I knew I would always call my first daughter that. After we had been together for a couple of months I found out I was pregnant, we were both so happy but we knew we had to keep it a secret as well. I am so sorry I didn't tell any of you, I wanted to so so much, when you sent me your emails about how you were all getting on, I just wanted to message you back and tell you everything but I had to be vague because he was monitoring my communication with people, trying to unnerve me. She is the one thing I hoped he would never get his hands on, the one thing I want to protect above everything else. I swore to keep her safe, and if anything happens to her I'll…" She paused and took a sharp intake of breath, "I don't know how they got her, after the first murder, I put her in protection, I haven't seen her in two weeks! What am I going to do?" she cried, her voice desperate as fresh tears made tracks across her cheeks.

Penelope had tears in her eyes too as she listened, feeling her friend's pain as if it were hers. Only it was worse than that, because there was nothing she could do to make the agony stop for Emily. She could not bear to see her so upset. She grasped her hand tightly, "shh it'll be ok, you have so many great people on your side, listen to me, we will find them. And don't you dare apologise, you did what you had to do to protect your family and to protect us, don't ever be sorry for that. When Bella grows up we'll tell her how brave and fantastically strong her Mother is, and how lucky she is to have a Mom who would fight so selflessly to protect her." Penelope said, with such force behind every single word. And then she lowered her voice and squeezed her fingers tighter, "and Emily, when we find her, and we will find her, I can't wait to meet her," she smiled gently, seeing a sliver of light flicker behind her friends eyes.

Emily gave her a weak smile and brushed the tears away from her face. She was the lucky one, she thought, to have friends like Penelope there to share her sadness and make her smile even in the darkest of situations. Seeing them all there, surrounding her bed, made her think how stupid she had been to keep this from them. Every single one of them was a fighter, and they were willing to fight to help her. She should have trusted them with her problems from the beginning. But it was too late for that now, and part of Emily was adamant that she had done the right thing by keeping them in the dark in order to keep them far enough away from danger. And yet here they were now, willing to do whatever it took, and she was so glad, and so lucky to have them.

"It's not clear if he's bluffing about having your child but the priority is to find James. We need you to think about London 2004, it is our only hope of finding the connection, clear your mind and think," Hotch said quietly, looking at her.

Emily closed her eyes and transported her mind back nine years, she had just begun working for Interpol and again she was having to adjust to her life in a new country. She was only there for six months; she went to work, went out for dinner, went shopping. She made few friends but there was that guy, the name was on the tip of her tongue, she had dated him for a few months, things had ended badly between them. Why was that? That night. October 2004. She was at his house when there was a banging at the door, he answers it, there are raised voices so she goes downstairs to find out what has happened. It's his brother, she's met him once before, he's covered in blood, 'I've done a bad thing', 'I've done a bad thing' he says over and over again. Her date tries to stop her calling the police, he hits her and tells his brother to run, she gets out of the house and the police arrive, he is arrested for murder. What was his name?

Her red and puffy eyes flashed open, "Garcia can you look up a murder in October 2004? A young man killed a woman after their date went wrong I think."

Penelope pulled her laptop out of her bag, "yeah, as we speak my lovely, as we speak"

Hotch frowned, "what's the connection?"

"I don't know how I forgot but there was a man who I dated for a few months whose brother turned up to the house while I was there covered in blood saying he'd done a bad thing, that's the only thing of significance I can remember from that period."

"It could be either of them, trying to get revenge as they see you as the person who put the brother in jail" J.J. suggested.

Garcia continued typing rapidly until she found a newspaper article on the case, "this looks promising" she said looking closer at the text on her screen, "16th October 2004, George Sutton, 22, was arrested for the murder of his date for the evening Gemma Hayes, 19 and was sentenced to ten years in prison"

Emily nodded, "Peter Sutton!" she exclaimed when the name finally came to her, "that was it, Peter and his brother George"

"Garcia find out everything you can about both the Sutton brothers" Hotch ordered.

"Already on it sir" she replied as she began typing furiously once more.

The atmosphere in the room had changed ever so slightly. There was a crackle in the air like the electricity after lightening, or the warm clamminess of the night before a rainstorm. This new feeling amongst the team was familiar and oh so welcome; the feeling of hope. This is what it felt like after months of hitting brick walls and dead ends, after chasing the same tail and coming up blank. This is what it felt like to have something to hold on to, something to chase up, something to lead somewhere. A fresh lead which they all silently hoped would knock down the wall that they had been hitting for the past year.

"Ok we can definitely rule out George Sutton because he committed suicide in prison five years ago. Peter however is very much alive, he still lives in London and... oh no!" Garcia cried as the information glared from the bright screen.

"What?" Emily asked frantically.

Penelope looked up horrified from behind her sparkling spectacles, "Peter Sutton's employment records show he is currently working as a cleaner for a company whose main employer is London Interpol!"

J.J. mirrored the shock on her friend's face, "it was him. That's how he found out about James, that's how he kept up with the investigation and how he got in last night," she gave a small gasp and turned to Hotch, "you said you spoke to the janitor last night, he was the one who found Emily and stabilised her until the paramedics arrived."

"That's what he said!" Emily exclaimed suddenly remembering, the memory surfacing painfully as if it had been drowning in the recesses of her mind, and now it was gasping for air, demanding to be heard, "he said they should arrive in time, I thought he meant to watch me die but he meant to save me, he stayed to make sure I was alive" she snorted, "but he wouldn't show me his face, the coward wanted me to figure it out on my own, and then watch my family die" she said quietly, her voice breaking.

Hotch looked at her with sadness and empathy in his eyes, "we will not let that happen. Garcia any indication of where he might be holding them?"

She narrowed her eyes in concentration as she looked back at the screen, "he lives in an apartment in the city but oh here's your northern connection, his mother lived there and was moved to a retirement home last year but still owns her old house"

J.J. leant over the bed slightly, "do you think he took them up north to his Mom's house?"

Hotch shook his head, "this is about Emily, to cause the most pain to her he'd want them to be nearby"

"He tortured his victims in London, he must have another local location, he couldn't have gotten away with it in an apartment, and that photo is in a large room, like a warehouse"

An idea then flashed into Emily's head, "Garcia, can you track James' phone?"

She frowned slightly at the screen, "I should be able to, unless it's been turned off of course" she paused momentarily, "which it hasn't, give it a minute to triangulate a signal, aha! It is a warehouse on an industrial estate just outside the city, I've just sent the coordinates to your phones," she beamed up at them.

Hotch and J.J. stood up, "Well done Garcia, I'll call Leo and fill him in, he can contact the local authorities and we can meet them there."

Emily began to attempt to remove the wires from her arms and the pulse oximeter clamped to her finger. The machines began to beep in protest and two nurses burst into the room to assess the situation. JJ and Penelope had sprung on her the second she had tried to remove the drip from her arm.

"What are you doing Emily?" JJ cried, putting a hand over hers to stop her frantic squabble to remove the wires.

"Don't think for one second I'm not coming with you!" she responded, shoving the hospital sheets away from her. One nurse was fussing about with the machinery, reattaching wires and the other was coaxing the blanket back up over her hospital gown.

"You're not going anywhere," Hotch said softly, "you lost a lot of blood and you need to rest. If you show up there you'll put yourself and everyone around you in danger."

"But they're my family, Hotch," Emily began.

"And Bella needs a Mother who is very much alive. Get some rest," he said, and at the mention of her baby's name, Emily gave in to the nurses tucking her in. When the team were satisfied she wasn't going to try and follow them, they began to filter out the room. Hotch paused at the doorway and looked back at Emily, "we'll bring them home" he stated before he too disappeared.

As soon as they were alone Emily turned to her friend, "Garcia I need you to do me a favour"

"Anything my love"

"I need to know if Bella is where she is meant to be, I need you to check for me" she said handing her a card with an address on it, "it's about an hour away so you'll need to get a taxi, there's money in my bag to pay. It's Mr and Mrs Jenkins, they're old friends of my parents please tell them what's happened and that I sent you. As soon as you find out either way call Morgan, then the others will know whether he's bluffing or not"

Penelope nodded and squeezed her friend's hand before leaving, "everything will be alright"

Emily nodded weakly as she left and she was alone in the silence of the hospital room with only the mechanical hum of the machines and her own thoughts to keep her company. How she wished she could believe that what her friends had said was true but her reality was that Peter Sutton had gotten what he wanted. Emily Prentiss was alone, vulnerable and fearing for the lives of all of her family.


	14. Chapter 14

**As From Discretion Comes Isolation  
Chapter 14**

A/N - Sorry for the wait, I was waiting for perfection from my beta reader! Last three chapters will be uploaded over the next few days and that's a promise. Time for the final showdown, hope you're still enjoying it!

* * *

Slowly Leo put the phone down in his office and walked back through to the conference room. He had just received a phone call from Aaron Hotchner and although Emily was well and improving, the situation was grave indeed.

Nikki looked up in anticipation as her friend entered the room, "what is it? Is it Emily?" she asked hurriedly, getting to her feet.

He closed his eyes briefly and shook his head, "Emily's fine and they've worked out who has been committing these terrible crimes but he's kidnapped James and possibly Bella"

Nikki's eyes widened in shock and she clasped hold of Jack's hand who sat beside her.

"How?" Jack asked, his brow furrowing in worry, "they did everything to hide themselves!" anger began to course through his body as he remembered the several occasions over the past year when he and Nikki had accompanied Emily and James on nights out. They were one of the few people that had known about them and, being in the medical profession, Nikki had deduced she was pregnant, despite desperately trying to cover it up.

Leo shook his head solemnly, "I don't know, I've rung Harrison and informed him. They had reason to believe that he was in a warehouse outside of town because Penelope tracked his phone at the hospital."

"Who's Bella?" Morgan asked from the other end of the room where he stood with his arms folded across his chest. Reid and Rossi also looked at the Lyell Centre team as the same question had crossed their minds, who was this unknown person that their kidnapping caused so much worry?

Nikki looked at Jack and then to Leo, none of them wanted to be the ones to tell her friends about her secret daughter but they had to know in order to help save them. Leo coughed slightly and looked between each of the profilers, "Bella is her three month old daughter" Morgan frowned at him while Reid's mouth fell open with shock and Rossi remained neutral, "you have to understand the danger that Emily felt she was in, she feared her emails and phone calls were being intercepted so that's why she couldn't tell anyone. We only knew because being in the medical profession we could tell immediately. If you're angry, be angry later but right now we need to save her family"

Rossi nodded and stood up, "It is time to end this."

* * *

As fast as was legally possibly Hotch sped towards the location, the sky had darkened since leaving the hospital and rain was beating down on the windscreen. Neither agent said a word during the journey, they were still processing all that Emily had revealed to them. J.J. tapped her finger anxiously against the car door while she looked out of the window into the blackness, it wasn't just another victim they were saving, it was Emily's family. Hotch gave her a sideways glance before fixating his eyes back on the road. They were still five minutes away according to the Sat Nav so he hoped the others were already there. He was constantly having to remind himself that the team were only there to consult on behalf of Emily and really they had no true authority in this foreign country, but this was their friend and if they hurt their friend then it was personal.

He quickly swung right into an almost empty car park, with only several cars occupying it, most with the familiar blue and red glare of police lights illuminating the darkness. Once they had parked the agents met up with the rest of their team as they heard the plan of action.

"He has contacted us" DCI Harrison explained, "he texted me on James' phone, he only wants the BAU members, the pathologists and Jack in there"

Hotch nodded, he had been running Peter Sutton's most likely plan through his head, it was obvious what he wanted to achieve and they were about to play right into it, "he's planned something, this was always his end game, to have everyone that means anything to Emily in there with him"

Morgan took a step towards the warehouse, "what are we waiting for? This son of a bitch has caused enough fear and heartache for too many people, especially Emily. This ends now."

Hotch shook his head, "no Morgan, it is most likely a trap, you know that"

Jack stood beside Morgan, "and every second we're out here doing nothing he could be killing James or Bella. Morgan's right, we're finishing this"

Nikki stared bewildered at the pair, "no Jack! This is madness!"

"I am really sorry Hotch but you have no authority over me. I am going to save my friend's family just as we hunted down Foyet after he took Haley or Diane when she took Maeve. It's time to help Emily, we were almost too late last time, we are not going to be today" Morgan said turning to walk towards the warehouse.

Reid looked at his friend, his words ringing in his ears, "I'm coming too Morgan" he said quietly going to meet him. Derek clapped him on the back and nodded at him, thanking him for the support.

Rossi sighed and looked at them, "Aaron, he's right. If we're going to do this, we'll do it together as a family"

The group looked at Hotch waiting for his call, slowly he nodded "ok, we'll go in"

Nikki looked up at Jack and then Leo, "we're coming too"

D.I. Harrison stared at them, "it's your decision Leo, take this earpiece so we can stay in contact, we are calling in backup so the first sign of danger we'll move in"

Apprehensively, the five American federal agents, the two English pathologists and the Irish forensic scientist walked towards the door of the entrance to the warehouse. Hotch held his hand up to stop them before opening the door slowly. The warehouse was large with a staircase to the left leading up to a second floor. The centre of the empty space showed the setting from the photo on Emily's phone, included an unconscious James still tied to the chair. In the back corner of the room, Hotch eyed a backdoor, he turned back and tilted his head to Morgan to give him the signal to go around back, Derek gave Jack a small shove to encourage him to go with him.

Slowly, they crept into the room heading straight for James.

"Well well well, it took you long enough!" a voice boomed as a man dressed in black strode down the stairs tapping a gun against his leg.

None of them moved. They kept their eyes focused on Peter Sutton as he waltzed past them smirking until he stopped behind James.

"I had developed the opinion that you were smart, how wrong I was?" he eyed the group, "we appear to be missing three of our friends, where is dearest Jack, Derek and Penelope? No matter. A slight blip in the overall plan, I've got the majority of you"

"How do you see this ending Peter?" Rossi finally asked in his usual confident persona just as he had talked down many serial killers and psychopaths in the past though this time he was without the protection of his gun, they all were, they were at a disadvantage, defenceless and vulnerable.

He placed the gun closer to James' head, "David Rossi! You're not keeping to script, just because you're an award winning author doesn't mean you are entitled to a rewrite. Aren't you curious at why I've done all this? Of course Penelope would have done a background check but they don't give us the whole story, do they?"

Rossi shrugged and folded his arms acting as if he didn't have a care in the world, "enlighten us then Peter"

He placed his large hands on the back of the chair in which James was slumped, "Emily will have told you about how she was the reason my brother was imprisoned and ultimately the reason he killed himself. When he was arrested I did whatever I could to help him but this led to me neglecting my job and I was fired, I tried to get other jobs but no one would employ me, no matter how much I tried to get my life back together I couldn't. So then my brother died and my Mum was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and having nothing left I thought I'd take up an old hobby. Oh did I not mention that I helped young George with Alison Martin; that was his first murder by the way. Then after killing a few, what do you call them? Oh yes, high risk victims, but who should I see on the news but the woman I had loathed for eight years and she was back in London. From then on my plan fell into place perfectly, making her paranoid, cutting herself off from everyone and putting her in a helpless position in that hospital bed. Oh she tried to hide but she didn't expect me to have the IT experience that I do, particularly in hacking lines of communication. It was all a matter of time until I would step up my plan and when I saw her precious BAU family was coming to the city well I couldn't pass up the opportunity. Now this is the final piece of the puzzle, it is a shame that dear Emily isn't here to bear witness to all her family dying."

During his speech Peter had been completely oblivious to the two men creeping through the backdoor. His lips were twisted in a smirk as he revelled in the retelling of his story, enjoying how much pain he had caused Emily. As he poised the gun at the back of James' head the strong arms of Jack locked around his neck. Peter reached his left arm up to try and release his grip but finally Jack's recreational fighting was working to his advantage. In an act of desperation he pointed his right arm downwards and pulled the trigger, firing a bullet into Jack's leg.

"Jack!" cried Nikki as she started to run towards him but Leo lunged forward and grabbed her arm. With the help of J.J. he held her back, both holding an arm as she struggled against them, trying to reach her wounded colleague. Jack released his grip around Peter's neck and clutched his leg as a plethora of inappropriate words spewed from his mouth.

Peter could not regain his strength before Morgan had tackled him to the ground sending the gun skidding across the floor. Now the danger had been lifted, Leo called in the police who quickly burst through the door accompanied by the doctors from the ambulance ready to help James and Jack. Nikki shrugged her arm free and sprinted forward, dropping to her knees beside him. She helped him sit up as he had been knocked off his feet during Morgan's tackle and pressed her hand to his wound.

Peter fought as the handcuffs were placed on his wrists and he was read his rights by DCI Harrison who was glad to have finally caught the serial killer they had been hunting for so long. Peter gave a grunt of pain as Harrison twisted the cuffs tightly.

As Sutton's words played over in Morgan's mind the realisation hit him and he ran over to Hotch, "Sutton said 'watch all her family die', Hotch I think he's got a bomb here, he's got nothing to live for, he doesn't care if he goes up, he wants us dead so Emily will suffer"

Knowing Morgan's previous expertise with such matters Hotch put his faith in him, "we need to get everyone out now"

"You'll never find the baby!" Peter screamed as he was dragged out of the door.

Morgan ran a hand over his head as with all the drama he had forgotten about Emily's missing daughter. Frantically he headed for the stairs and looked over at his Unit Chief, "no Morgan, it's too dangerous, we don't even know if she's here"

"I've got to be sure! Get everyone out!" he shouted already at the staircase.

On the second floor there were two rooms, one which was an office space with some filing cabinets and a desk, the second was bare and empty. Fiercely he threw out the drawers of the desk and cabinets until he found the bomb, it had two minutes until countdown. He looked around desperately, there was no sign of the baby, what was he going to do?

Suddenly, his phone began ringing in his pocket breaking the eerie silence.

One minute thirty seconds.

He answered it quickly, "really not the time Garcia"

"I've got her, I've got Bella she's safe, whatever you're doing get out of there now!" Penelope cried down the phone.

Derek's heart began beating faster, one last look at the bomb, forty seconds. Still grasping hold of the phone he sprinted down the stairs in the now empty warehouse below and towards the exit. In the upstairs room the small red numbers moved to 00:00 and began blinking rapidly as the high pitched beeping rang out clear as a last second warning.

The sound of the explosion was all too familiar to Garcia as she held the phone desperately to her ear while cradling little Bella. She swallowed as tears formed in her eyes, "Derek?" she whispered choking on her words, desperate to hear the voice of her best friend.

"Derek!?"


	15. Chapter 15

**As From Discretion Comes Isolation  
Chapter 15**

A/N - As promised as quick as possible, here is the penultimate chapter, the last one is coming soon! Thank you all for staying loyal readers.

* * *

"Derek!?" Penelope shrieked into the phone, causing the sleeping little girl to stir momentarily in her arms. Her heart was beating at a hundred miles an hour, her hands shaking with fear; it was like New York all over again, why did he do that? Why does he always have to play the hero? Because he is a hero, he's her hero. He's her best friend in the whole world and he is constantly putting himself in life threatening positions, she hated this waiting, why wouldn't someone speak to her?

More silence.

'Oh God, he really is dead' she thought, her heart breaking, 'no, it's too soon, there is so much that we haven't done, so much that hasn't been said, please no-'

"Baby Girl? We really have to stop doing this" Morgan's smooth voice sang down the phone at her.

Garcia took a short intake of breath, she couldn't formulate words, she let his fluid, beautiful words flow through her. She couldn't imagine never hearing his voice again, "you mad at me again?" he asked at the lack of response from his best friend.

Her heart skipped with joy, he was alive! Morgan was alive! Still she was angry, he had risked his life again! "Yes" she said simply, pursing her lips.

He chuckled softly, "I wouldn't have it any other way sweetness, I'll see you soon"

"Huh yeah, if you don't try to kill yourself again!" she scoffed and immediately put down the phone.

Brushing gravel and debris from his clothes, Morgan turned to see the burning building before he was ambushed by his friends and was soon accompanying Jack and James on the trip in the ambulance to the hospital.

Rossi put his hand on Reid's shoulder as he watched Hotch climb into the back of the ambulance with Morgan, "we got the bad guy"

"How many times does one of us have to get hurt or worse before that just isn't enough to justify it anymore?" he sighed and walked away to be on his own.

J.J. watched him as she stood beside Rossi, "is he ok?"

Her friend and mentor looked at her and nodded, "he will be, as Hotch said this is just too reminiscent of Maeve for him. What's the update?"

"Basically everyone but us has gone to the hospital, Hotch went with Morgan, Nikki went with Jack and Leo went with James"

He nodded and looked at Reid staring into the remainder of the building, "we'll give him five minutes and then we can see Emily and tell her that we got him"

J.J. glanced at her watch, it was almost nine, "Rossi where are the boys? They can't still be at the Lyell Centre, it's past Henry's bedtime it's hard enough to get him into a pattern with jet lag as it is!"

Rossi held up his hands to silence her, "don't panic, Garcia picked them up on her way to check on Bella, I'm sure he's sleeping in the back of the car, it's been a long day for all of us"

Relaxing slightly she nodded and her eyes were drawn to Reid, he looked so lost and sad. He was one of her best friends and she couldn't bear to see him like that. Slowly she walked up and placed her hand on his shoulder, "Spence" she started softly, he turned towards her and as he met her eyes she could see the redness and puffiness as if he had been crying, "oh Spence" she sighed putting her arms around his neck pulling him into a warm embrace, "it's going to be ok, we're going to let Emily know everything is alright now" she said into his shoulder before they broke apart. He simply nodded and began walking silently back through the chaos towards the car.

* * *

Emily hadn't realised that she had fallen asleep until she was awoke by the sound of beeping coming from outside her room. She had had a dreamless sleep but reality hit her as soon as she opened her eyes. She had tried so desperately to stay awake and wait for their return but tiredness overcame her. She was helpless, her entire family was in danger because of her and there was nothing she could do. She couldn't even reach her phone to see if they're all safe, all she could do was lie there connected to all sorts of tubes and machines that were nursing her back to health and wait. Always waiting. Closing her eyes she slumped back against the soft pillows that were propping her upwards and sighed. She thought about her baby girl, she had been born a month premature, she was so tiny ,she shouldn't have had to spend so long away from her family. Emily wanted to hold her in her arms, smell the sweet baby scent of talcum powder and lotion, feel her soft skin and stroke her little tuft of dark brown her, look into her bright blue eyes and let her tiny, stubby fingers clasp around her own. She had only been a mother for such a small amount of time, but it had already had such an impact on her life and her priorities.

Hearing a quiet knock at the door her thoughts were interrupted and reality set in. She opened her eyes to see Rossi, J.J. and Reid entering the room.

"What's happened?" she asked frantically trying to sit up.

Rossi put a hand on her shoulder, "lie down, you're not strong enough to be getting this worked up. Calm down or you'll be in here a lot longer than necessary!"

Emily looked between her three friends demanding answers, "is everyone ok? James? Bella?" she asked with shaking hands covering her mouth, her friends faces impossible to read.

J.J. smiled reassuringly at her, "Bella is fine, she was where she was meant to be, we're all fine except Morgan was a little too close when the bomb went off in the warehouse, he's somewhere in the hospital with Hotch and Jack was shot in the leg so Nikki's with him around here as well"

She widened her eyes in panic, "bomb!?" she cried as she knew it was her fault that her friend's had risked their lives once more, even more so as they were on foreign soil and were disadvantaged as they didn't have the protection and the shield of their gun, "and James?" she asked quietly noting that his condition had not been mentioned.

Rossi looked sideways at J.J., "he was in a pretty bad way but Leo went with him and he said he's in surgery right now"

"Oh" Emily's heart ached as she thought of her James being tortured by that man, she couldn't bare it, "what happened? Tell me the full story"

She listened attentively to every detail of what happened at the warehouse, again she felt stupidly helpless as all her friends were risking their lives to save her family while she did nothing. As they concluded their tale there was another knock at the door, Morgan entered followed by Hotch, he had his arm in a sling from where he had sprained it jumping away from the blast and a couple of stitches above his eye.

"It's not as bad as it looks" he said giving them a half smile, "I'm all fine, how're you?" he said turning his attention to Emily.

She shrugged. She had given up on knowing how she felt, she was still lost without her family with her.

Morgan gave her a knowing smile as a nurse walked in to check on her, she frowned at the group, "it's getting late Emily, your friends will have to leave shortly, we've bent the rules as it is letting them all in here"

"Five more minutes" she said looking up hopefully.

The nurse sighed, "fine, I'll be back then" and she turned on her heel and left.

"Well she seemed pretty grumpy didn't she?" came a voice from the door.

Emily's eyes lit up as she saw Garcia stood in the doorway holding a bright eyed little bundle in her arms while two little tired boys ran to their parents.

Penelope beamed as she walked towards the bed, "I think you're Mommy has been waiting for you" she whispered giving her a kiss on the forehead before placing her in her mother's arms.

Emily's eyes sparkled with tears as Bella stretched her tiny arm upwards to grab a piece of her thick, dark hair. She laughed quietly and kissed her nose, "hey beautiful, where have you been? Have you missed me? I've missed you so much, Mommy's not going to let you out of her sight ever again, I'll make up for having to leave you I promise" she whispered cuddling her close as only a mother could.

The others watched with smiles on their own faces as Emily was reunited with her daughter. Morgan had placed his good arm around Garcia's shoulder, "you still mad Momma?"

She looked up at his injured yet beautiful face and placed her hand on his chest, "I think you've earned my forgiveness Hot Stuff"

He chuckled and kissed the top of her head as the door opened once more. They expected it to be the nurse again but instead the slender figure of Nikki walked through the door, her blonde curls pulled back away from her face in an intricate braid.

"Emily! Are you alright?" she asked as she walked up to the bed.

She smiled at her friend and then to her daughter, "I am now"

"I've got something to show you" she said pulling out her phone, which Jack's face filled the screen.

"Hi Emily and gang" his voice crackled through the speaker, "I have just managed to limp across the hospital using these magnificent crutches to see a very good friend of mine, you might know him"

Jack's face soon disappeared and it was replaced by that of her boyfriend who's face was badly bruised and cut.

"James!" she breathed excitedly

He smiled weakly, "hey baby, I needed to see you, speak to you"

She frowned slightly, "you need to rest"

He shook his head, "so do you, but I'm talking to you first, is my Bella there?"

Nikki pulled the phone back slightly so Emily could hold up their baby in front of the camera, "look it's Daddy, you going to wave for Daddy" she smiled taking her daughter's little hand and began moving it.

"There's my girls" he smiled, "Emily I need to ask you something and I'm glad all your family can hear this, I wanted to ask you before all this began but I know that wasn't possible but now this is over... Will you do me the honour of being my wife?"

She laughed excitedly, "of course I will!"

He sighed, "great! I'll see you soon, they're going to kick Jack and Leo out now, I love you"

"I love you too" she said handing the phone back to Nikki.

Penelope beamed at her, "Em! You're getting married!" she squealed. Emily laughed and rolled her eyes at her friend.

Before she could reply the nurse returned and began shooing her friends out of the room, "we'll be back tomorrow" J.J. smiled as they left quietly.

Emily was reluctant to have to be separated from her baby again but she knew she needed to be back in her own crib in her own nursery, "Nikki, would you be able to take Bella back to ours and stay there for a little while, I don't want her being away from home any longer"

She nodded, "of course, I'll go home and get some things and your spare keys and then go to yours, we'll be fine"

She looked down at her little one who had stopped wriggling and had closed her eyes to sleep, she kissed her forehead before handing her over, "Garcia will have her things that she took away with her but you know where everything else is"

Nikki nodded again as she made for the door, "we'll see first thing tomorrow, bye bye Mummy"

Happy and content that her life could finally continue in peace, Emily closed her eyes and drifted into her first deep sleep in a long time.

As Nikki carried Bella out of the door she saw the BAU team waiting in the corridor.

"I know what you're thinking Dave but we leave in five days, we don't even know if they'll be out of hospital by then" Hotch said folding his arms and shaking his head at his friend.

Rossi simply smiled, "I've done it once I can do it again"

"That was at home, at your own house, that makes organisation a bit easier" Morgan added his arm still lazily placed around Garcia's shoulder.

Rossi turned to J.J., "did you have a good wedding?"

J.J. smiled, "yes, it was beautiful, you know it was" she replied.

He held his hands out, "I rest my case, this girl deserves some happiness after the year of hell she's had. And we're all going to celebrate this wonderful occasion together, as a family."


	16. Chapter 16

**As From Discretion Comes Isolation  
Chapter 16**

A/N - Thank you to every single person who has read, followed, favourited or reviewed this story over the past few months, I truly appreciate it so I hope you enjoy the conclusion to the story and please keep an eye out for the future. Much Love xxxxxx

* * *

It was four days before Emily was finally discharged from hospital and she grumbled as she, J.J., Garcia and Nikki packed up her things.

"Rest! I've had enough rest being cooped up here!" she moaned taking her belongings and putting them in her bag, "you didn't all need to be here for when I got discharged you know" she looked up at the three women.

J.J. shook her head slightly, "we're going home tomorrow so we wanted to spend as much time as we can with you seeing as James is being discharged today too, I doubt we'll see you this evening"

"I've ruined enough of your vacation, I'm spending the rest of it with you guys, I've got the rest of my life to spend with him" she smiled picking up the carseat which her daughter was sat in.

Nikki looked at her watch and gave the other two women a knowing look. It was 12.00pm and unbeknownst to Emily, her wedding would be commencing in just under an hour.

"Right we'd better go for our celebratory lunch!" Garcia cried heading towards the doorway.

Emily frowned, "what are celebrating?"

"Your engagement silly! And your full recovery so come on let's go" she said pulling her towards her and out of the stuffy hospital room.

She pulled a face before signing the forms at the front desk which meant she could finally go home and waited for the nurse to fetch her medication, "I think I just want to go home for a bit, I've been stuck in here for days"

J.J. nodded, "we understand we'll take you home and then we'll go out"

"You're not getting the hint, I'd prefer it if we could just hang out at home"

Penelope put her hands on her hips, "it's not everyday one of your best friends gets engaged so we are going to celebrate it, ok?"

Emily frowned slightly not quite understanding why they were so adamant that they had to go out, "fine, but can I go home and get ready, you all look really well dressed and I look like the local tramp, I smell like it too!"

"Of course" Nikki replied as they walked out into the car park. She hoped Jack and Leo were having a better job convincing James than they were.

* * *

Jack smirked from the seat beside his friend's bed. He had never been great at keeping secrets and to be honest he didn't know why he had been asked to come with Leo for James' discharge. Unfortunately he was still on crutches after the bullet had damaged his leg so he watched amused while the other two men packed away James' belongings.

"Cheers mate" James began sarcastically as he folded up his dressing gown and placed it on the top of his bag, "you've been a great help, thanks for being here"

Jack held his arms out, "what can I say? I'm always here for you"

Leo shook his head and glanced up at the clock on the wall, he knew they had to keep to strict schedule, "right we're taking you out"

"Oh no, I really just wanted to see my girls and go home" James replied

Jack stood up and balanced himself on his crutches, "you've got your whole life to do that, right now you're going to come out for a drink with us"

James sighed, he knew he wasn't about to win the argument, especially when Jack was his opponent, "fine"

Jack beamed and clapped him in the back, "good boy!"

James frowned as he looked out of the car window. The tall, grey industrial buildings of London Town were soon being replaced by the greenery of the suburbs. He was unsure why Leo was taking him out of the city when there were plenty of nice places on the route between the hospital to his house. Yet he did not have the energy to dispute the fact, though he had physically recovered from his attack, he still felt exhausted and quite lifeless but he put that down to the lack of sleep that had gotten whilst in hospital. He noted that the green scenery was becoming more frequent as he had tuned out of the frivolous conversation that Jack and Leo were having in the front of the car. As much as he had become close with them over the past year, all he wanted to do was be with his fiancé and his daughter who his time with had been severely limited recently.

Closing his eyes briefly he could see Emily in front of him, her sweet scent being blown towards him by a brisk wind, her thick brown hair falling perfectly just below her shoulders, the corners of her soft, pink, luxurious lips being drawn upwards to reveal her pearly white teeth in the most beautiful smile and those eyes; the smile reached all the way up to her twinkly chocolate brown eyes. His mind, subconsciously, was recreating the first time he laid eyes on her. He had been walking towards the Interpol building when he saw her stood outside in her black suit with her handbag over her shoulder and a very troubled look on her face. Her eyes then connected with his and he smiled at her and without any hesitation she smiled back. It was a moment that had gotten him through the past year, despite all the trouble, he loved her.

James soon felt the car slowing and his eyes slowly flickered open. He could see they were pulling into the entrance to a large estate where cars filled the long cobbled driveway. Leo parked behind a dark green Land Rover before exiting the car. Jack soon followed his lead as he grabbed his crutches and hobbled out of the door.

"What's going on?" James asked, the rare summer sun steaming down on his face as Leo opened the boot of the car.

Jack pulled out two black garment bags and smiled to himself, "oh sorry did we not mention..." he began handing his friend one of the bags, "...you're getting married"

* * *

At 12.45pm Nikki parked her car behind Leo's at the grand, countryside estate. They had all gotten changed into their nicest clothes at Emily's house before travelling to their destination.

Two days earlier J.J. and Garcia had taken a trip to Oxford Street and had bought new outfits for the secret wedding as it had not been a necessity to pack in their suitcase before they had arrived. They spent most of the day fighting the crowds but they finally managed to buy beautiful dresses for the occasion as well as new smart pants and shirts for Henry and Jack who, unlike the other men on the trip, had not packed formal clothes and a baby bridesmaids dress for Bella. The final, and most difficult, item on their shopping list was a wedding dress for Emily. Unlike J.J., Emily's mother could not tear herself away from her busy schedule to attend her only daughter's wedding let alone lend her her wedding dress so it was up to her best friends to find one for her. It was hard to find the perfect dress but once they saw it both women looked at each other and knew they had found it. The dress was now hidden in the back of Nikki's car which they would be revealing to their friend in a very short amount of time.

Emily shielded the sun from her eyes as she looked around, "where are we?"

Penelope took hold of her shoulders and directed her towards the entrance as J.J. grabbed the dress and Nikki picked up the baby, "that would ruin the element of surprise dearest Emily"

As they walked into the grand entrance hall the realisation hit her, all the secrets, the sneaking around, talking in hushed voices, the vagueness of their plans and now being beautifully dressed in a mystery location.

"Oh God, you haven't?" she said looking around aimlessly.

Garcia smiled innocently, "I haven't done anything!" she exclaimed.

"Neither have we!" J.J. called as they entered the hall handing her the garment bag her secret dress was hidden inside.

Emily rolled her eyes and tried to stifle a smile, "Rossi!" she cried.

"You've only got ten minutes, you had better get dressed!" Nikki said pushing her slightly towards the toilets.

Still dumbfounded she carried the bag into the ladies. She carefully hung the hanger onto the top of the cubicle door and pulled the tab downwards to reveal what dress her friends had picked for her. Emily gave a small gasp and took a step backwards as she laid eyes on the ensemble.

The white material was simple and traditional, the dress had three quarter length lace sleeves and flowed elegantly to the floor. She slipped it on easily and noted the matching shoes and accessories which were at the bottom of the bag. Once she was ready she turned to the full length mirror and brought her dark hair forwards from behind her shoulders, curled slightly it fell nicely over her chest making her look simply beautiful.

Once she left the bathroom the only person Emily could see in the grand entrance hall was Derek Morgan holding her baby daughter who was now wearing a purple and white bridesmaids dress and she looked adorable.

"What's going on?" she asked placing the empty bag and her clothes down on a chair at the edge of the room.

He bounced Bella slightly in his arms which caused her to give him a toothless smile, "I would like to do you the honour of walking you down the aisle, if you'll have me"

She carefully lifted her daughter out of his arms and smiled up at him as she linked her arm around his, "I couldn't have picked anyone better"

He gave her nod and a wink, "we better do this then Prentiss"

Emily looked at him and then to her daughter who was busy playing her favourite game of 'tugging on Mommy's hair' and mirrored his nod, "it's about time"

* * *

The lights were dimmed low and all eyes were on the dance floor. Garcia smiled as she watched the newly married couple move slowly in time with the music for their first dance while their little daughter bounced happily on her lap.

"No way man! We are not having this conversation" Morgan laughed from beside her with his arm in its usual place, firmly around her shoulder.

Jack shook his head, "I don't even know how glorified rounders can be classified as a sport! Football is an internationally loved and recognised game"

"Baseball is no less loved just because it's not loved internationally" he looked around the table for some support from his colleagues, "J.J. you're into sports, which do you think is better baseball or soccer?"

J.J. turned and stroked Henry's long hair who was sat on her knee before jumping off to play with Jack, "I'm sorry Morgan you're forgetting I went to college on a soccer scholarship so I'm kind of biased, but it is the better sport overall" she laughed seeing Morgan getting mad over his lack of support and he began to sulk slightly.

The music soon began to fade out as Emily and James left the dance floor hand in hand and walked towards their friends' table. She soon placed her arms around Rossi's neck giving him a backwards hug, "thank you Rossi, this is incredible! If the BAU doesn't work out then wedding planner is always an option"

"Don't even mention it and I'll bare it in mind!" he chuckled before sipping his glass of scotch.

Another song began playing and Jack could see Nikki tapping her foot and humming along silently. He stood up and took her hand, "would Madame like to dance?"

Her pale cheeks flushed slightly but she gave him and smile and nodded before he led her out onto the dance floor.

Penelope handed Bella over to her parents before leaning over Morgan towards the right end of the table, "Leo, why are they not together?"

He sighed and shook his head as he watched his friends laughing as Jack balanced on his crutches while they tried to dance, "Nikki is still recovering after Harry left, but hopefully they'll see sense soon enough"

Emily looked at her family and saw one person was missing from the table. The one person that she hadn't had a chance to really speak to. And the one person she really needed to speak to.

Reid.

She looked around the room and located him playing magic tricks with Henry and Jack in the corner of the room. She walked over as he was doing his classic pen through the paper trick, she was still clueless at how he could do it but she loved that he could.

She crouched down and placed her hands on the boys' shoulders, "hey guys are you having fun?"

"Yes Auntie Emily!" Henry cried.

Prentiss laughed, "good! Well do you what's going to be on the table soon? Cake! If you want to get some you'd better go now"

Immediately the two boys ran back to their seats leaving Emily and Spencer alone.

He looked down at his laced, slightly scuffed black shoes letting his long hair fall in front of his face, "I can't believe I've got to say goodbye, again" he said quietly.

Emily pulled him into a tight embrace, tears sparkling in her eyes, "I am so sorry I couldn't be there for you, Garcia told me all that you've been through and I wanted more than anything to pick up the phone and tell you that although it hurts, and God it does hurt, that you need to trust in your family to help you get through it because they all understand. Every single person sat at that table has lost someone very close to them and they know exactly what you are going through, you couldn't ask for a better support network"

"I know" he whispered into her shoulder, "I wished more than anything that you'd been there, I wanted to tell you about her when we first started corresponding but I thought because you had only sent short replies to my other messages that you were too busy and wouldn't want to be burdened with my frivolous information. Obviously I now know it was now because of Sutton..."

She broke apart still clutching his hands, "...but you thought you were losing your friend and that added to the hurt as you were mourning Maeve" he nodded slowly his chest feeling tight at the mention if her name, "I felt as if I was back in Paris again, the limited information and contact with my family, I felt I was losing you all again. I tried to postpone your visit because of the danger but Hotch wouldn't have it but after seeing how much you are still willing to do for me, I know that I'll never lose you, you'll always be my family"

Reid gave her a small smile, "thank you Emily"

She nodded and linked her arm through his, "come on genius, lets see if they left us any cake"

"Did you know the ritual of the wedding cake in Britain can be traced back to medieval times, when it would have been made of wheat and, it was actually thrown at the bride as a symbol of fertility?" he said as the began to walk towards their friends.

Emily laughed, "it's good to have you back Reid!"

The table had become emptier as Morgan and Garcia had begun dancing closely on the dance floor as had J.J. and Henry while James had gone to speak to his family.

"So you're expecting me to believe that there is nothing between those two?" Leo scoffed looking towards the dance floor as Morgan kissed the top of Penelope's soft blonde hair.

Rossi shook his head, "that's what they expect you to believe, we've been waiting six years-"

"-Seven years!" Emily cried sitting down.

"-Nine years!" Reid and Hotch both exclaimed.

Leo laughed, "and I thought Nikki and Harry were bad!"

The dancers then began to disperse as the song ended but J.J. and Garcia began beckoning Emily to the floor. She laughed as she joined her best friends and then held hands and began dancing in a circle just as they had done the previous year. It was as if no time had passed.

Emily knew she was extremely lucky. Not only did she have a beautiful family of her own, she also had the most incredible extended family, both in London with her new family members which she'd found in Nikki, Jack and Leo and her BAU team who would always be her rock, no matter what happened.


End file.
